TRANSPORT

M1: Road Traffic

Andrew Selous: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will instruct the Highways Agency to make improvements to junction 10a of the M1 to reduce congestion; what assessment he has made of the effect of such congestion on the flow of traffic on the M1; and if he will make a statement.

Sadiq Khan: Junction 10a is the responsibility of Luton borough council as the Local Highway Authority. Improvement of the junction was not included as a priority in the East of England's February 2009 Regional Funding Allocation advice to Government.
	The Highways Agency are working closely with Luton borough council to find an appropriate proposal for improvements.

Roads

Robert Goodwill: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many miles of road have been detrunked in each of the last 10 years.

Chris Mole: The lengths of road detrunked in the last 10 years under the New Deal Detrunking Programme are given in the following table:
	
		
			   Route length detrunked 
			  Calendar year  km  miles 
			 2000 0 0 
			 2001 444.6 276.3 
			 2002 1,123.4 698.0 
			 2003 568.2 353.0 
			 2004 392.5 243.9 
			 2005 111.6 69.3 
			 2006 109.4 68.0 
			 2007 80.1 49.8 
			 2008 126.3 78.5 
			 2009 126.8 78.8 
			 2010 0 0 
			 Total 3,082.9 1,915.6 
		
	
	The road lengths given above are for the New Deal Detrunking Programme and do not include the more routine detrunking that will occur after construction of a bypass or new road.

Travel: Costs

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the percentage change in real terms of the cost of travelling by  (a) private car,  (b) bus,  (c) train and  (d) domestic aeroplane since (i) 1980 and (ii) 1997.

Sadiq Khan: Between 1980 and 2009 the real cost of motoring, including the purchase of a vehicle, declined by 17 per cent., bus and coach fares increased by 54 per cent. and rail fares increased by 50 per cent. in real terms. These figures are based on the transport components of the Retail Prices Index.
	Between 1997 and 2009 the real cost of motoring, including the purchase of a vehicle, declined by 14 per cent., bus and coach fares increased by 24 per cent. and rail fares increased by 13 per cent. in real terms.
	The costs of travelling by air are not available from the Retail Prices Index. However, the cost of the average UK one-way air fare, including taxes and charges, covering domestic flights fell by 35 per cent. between 1997 and 2008, the latest date for which figures are available.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agriculture: Research

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how much  (a) his Department,  (b) the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and  (c) other public bodies spent on each category of agricultural research in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of public expenditure on research and development on agriculture as a proportion of total spending on research and development in each of the last 10 years;
	(3)  what proportion of publicly-funded research and development related to agriculture is  (a) basic and  (b) applied research.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Over the last 10 years research programmes and public funders of agricultural R and D (including DEFRA) have been restructured and comparable data across this period are not available by categories. The following table presents the food and farming R and D funding by the main sponsors (DEFRA, BBSRC and DFID) since 2003-04.
	
		
			  R&D funding on farming and food per financial year 
			  £ million 
			   2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 DEFRA agricultural R and D funding 81 75 78 78 75 68 65 
			 Total BBSRC funding on farming and food research 132 129 138 150 171 185 189 
			 DFID n/a 30 38 36 35 38 41 
			 Total n/a 234 254 264 281 291 295 
			 Total Government (inc NERC, ESRC, FSA, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 368 365 
			  Note: DEFRA's research is primarily applied strategic, BBSRC's is primarily fundamental and DFID funds research in and for developing countries. 
		
	
	National statistics on R and D spend are presented per calendar year, and the latest year available is 2007. The following table compares the combined DEFRA, BBSRC and DFID funding on farming and food R and D with total spend on R and D between 2003 and 2008, indicating that Government expenditure in food and farming research has represented on average 1.2 per cent. of total R and D investment.
	
		
			  Year( 1)  Total Government expenditure on R and D in the UK (£ million)( 2)  Year( 3)  Defra, BBSRC and DFID funding on agricultural R and D (£ million)  Ratio (percentage) 
			 2008 n/a 2008-09 295 n/a 
			 2007 25423 2007-08 291 1.14 
			 2006 23410 2006-07 281 1.20 
			 2005 22106 2005-06 264 1.19 
			 2004 20242 2004-05 254 1.25 
			 2003 19727 2003-04 234 1.19 
			 (1) Expenditure shown by calendar year.  (2) Source: Office for National Statistics.  (3) Expenditure shown for financial year.  http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/tsdataset.asp?vlnk=532&More=N&AII=Y 
		
	
	In 2007-08, over 68 per cent. of public investment on food and farming research and development supported applied (strategic and specific) research (based on the international Frascati coding definitions), with the remainder for basic research.
	Source:
	http://www.dius.gov.uk/~/media/publications/GO-Science/UK-Cross-Government-Food-Research-Strategy

Agriculture: Research

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the return on investment in agricultural research and development.

Jim Fitzpatrick: DEFRA has not carried out a full assessment of return on its investment on agricultural R and D. DEFRA R and D has been commissioned to develop evidence to inform policy development or develop solutions which underpin policy objectives.
	In 2006 DEFRA assessed the rationale for investment in animal and plant genetics to underpin breeding. A review of returns on R and D investment(1) was commissioned to inform this assessment, which considered relevant UK studies and their estimates of the rates of return on agricultural R and D. These studies showed a great deal of variance in rates of return, which reflects both the length of time period studied and improvements in the estimation method employed, but the three most recent reported internal rates of return between 22-44 per cent.
	Part of the economic benefit of investment in R and D arises from the support of research facilities which maintain strategic capabilities, and this is equally difficult to quantify. An independent report by DTZ consultants in 2008 estimated that the Institute for Animal Health work on bluetongue virus potentially saved the UK economy £485 million and 10,000 jobs in that year(2).
	(1) DEFRA (2006). The rationale for DEFRA investment in R and D underpinning the genetic improvement of crops and animals-Project IF0101:
	http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module =More&Location=None&Completed=0&ProjectID=14403
	(2) The economic and social impact of the Institute for Animal Health's work on Foot and Mouth Disease:
	http://www.iah.bbsrc.ac.uk/ecosoc/docs/Foot-and-Mouth-Case-Study.pdf

Departmental Billing

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the average length of time taken by  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies to pay invoices from (i) small and medium-sized enterprises and (ii) all creditors in the last 12 months.

Dan Norris: The Department produces statistics each month on the time taken to pay invoices and specifically within the 10 day target. This is reported to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which collects 10 day payment performance data for 22 Departments and shares collated data with key external stakeholders (such as the CBI and IoD).
	In December 2009 the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs paid 99.92 per cent. of invoices within 10 days. From data held centrally, the performance of Natural England was 100 per cent., Animal Health Agency was 100 per cent. and Marine and Fisheries Agency was 99.62 per cent.

SCOTLAND

Departmental Billing

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the average length of time taken by his Department to pay invoices from  (a) small and medium-sized enterprises and  (b) all creditors in the last 12 months.

Ann McKechin: The Prime Minister announced in October 2008 that all central Government Departments will aim to pay invoices within 10 days. The Scotland Office does not differentiate between creditors and endeavours to pay all valid invoices within 10 days of receipt. The Scotland Office have managed to meet this target so far in 99.1 per cent. of cases in 2009-10.

Departmental Manpower

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many performance reviews were undertaken in respect of staff of  (a) his Department in each of the last five years; in how many cases performance was rated as unsatisfactory or below; how many staff left as a direct result of such a rating; and what percentage of full-time equivalent staff this represented.

Ann McKechin: All the staff in the Scotland Office are on secondment from the Scottish Executive or the Ministry of Justice. The Office follows the relevant performance appraisal schemes for each of those parent bodies, and as such, all staff are subject to annual performance review. Details of the exact number of performance reviews undertaken would be a matter for the parent bodies. No staff are currently subject to poor performance procedures nor have there been any instances in the last five years.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Reprography: Paper

Stewart Jackson: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what the average purchase price, excluding value added tax was of a 500 sheet ream of white A4 photocopier paper for use in the House of Commons; and how much the House of Commons Commission spent on photocopier paper in the latest year for which figures are available.

Nick Harvey: The House Administration spent a total of £129,506 excluding VAT on A4 80 gsm paper for use in photocopiers at an average cost of £2.15 per 500 sheet ream during the period 1 January to 31 December 2009.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Departmental Accountancy

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether any written instructions have been provided to his Department's Accounting Officer in accordance with paragraph 5.5 of the Ministerial Code since 1997.

Si�n Simon: There have been no instances since 1997 when the Minister in charge of the Department has provided the Department's Accounting Officer with written instructions in accordance with paragraph 5.5 of the Ministerial Code.

Departmental Recruitment

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  how many job vacancies in his Department and its agencies were filled through using external recruitment in the last year for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many job vacancies in his Department and its agencies were filled through external recruitment in the last year for which figures are available.

Si�n Simon: Six vacancies were filled by DCMS through external recruitment during 2009. Our agency the Royal Parks have filled 14 jobs through external recruitment.

Departmental Recruitment

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department and its agencies spent on external recruitment consultants in the last 12 months.

Si�n Simon: In the last 12 months neither DCMS nor the Royal Parks have used recruitment consultants for external recruitments.

Digital Broadcasting: Scotland

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 26 January 2010,  Official Report, column 777W, on digital broadcasting: Scotland, how many meetings with small local radio stations in Scotland have been held to date; and with which stations meetings have been held.

Si�n Simon: My Department has held two local radio summits with the commercial radio representative body RadioCentre, to discuss the effects of the Digital Radio Switchover with small station owners. This included representatives of radio stations in Scotland.

Gambling: Licensing

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether he plans to review the power of local authorities to monitor the activities of licensed social clubs in respect of gambling and gaming.

Gerry Sutcliffe: There are no specific plans to review the power of local authorities to monitor the activities of licensed social clubs in respect of gambling and gaming. However, together with the Gambling Commission and local authority representatives, we will continue to monitor the operation and effectiveness of the regulatory regime established by the Gambling Act 2005.

Gambling: Licensing

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether a club premises certificate enables social clubs to facilitate the playing of poker games with cash prizes.

Gerry Sutcliffe: A Club Premises Certificate is issued under the Licensing Act 2003 (the 2003 Act) and does not authorise social clubs to facilitate the playing of poker games with cash prizes. A certificate relates solely to licensable activities under the 2003 Act and does not confer any entitlements provided for by the Gambling Act 2005, such as offering facilities for gambling.

Gambling: Licensing

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many prosecutions of unlicensed poker rooms by the Gambling Commission resulted in a conviction in each of the last three years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: To date, there have been no prosecutions by the Gambling Commission against unlicensed poker rooms that have resulted in convictions. However, the Commission continues to work closely with local authorities to tackle illegal poker including, where appropriate, making objections to club gaming permit applications and taking enforcement action against poker played without the necessary authorisation. The Commission has also been working with the licensed trade to provide guidance on the regulations governing the playing of poker in pubs.

Newspaper Press

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport with reference to the contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Culture, Media and Sport of 13 January 2010,  Official Report, column 290WH, on local authority newspapers, what the timetable is for asking  (a) the Office of Fair Trading and  (b) Ofcom to consider the potential impact of local authority newspapers on the paid-for newspaper market.

Si�n Simon: The Government are still considering their response to the Audit Commission's report on this subject and will respond in due course.

Playing Fields: Coventry

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps his Department is taking to retain playing fields in Coventry.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Playing fields now enjoy the best protection ever through Government planning regulations and arrangements overseen by the Department for Children, Schools and Families. Schools in England need permission from the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families before they can sell any school playing fields or any part of a school playing field.
	Under planning guidance, local authorities are required to protect all open space which communities need. Sport England is a statutory consultee on all planning applications affecting local authority owned playing fields. The latest published statistics for 2007-08 show that out of 1,287 planning applications proposing development on playing fields referred to Sport England in 2007-08, 96.3 per cent. led to improved or protected sports provision.
	From 6 April 2009, the protection the Government provide for larger playing fields was also extended to cover smaller fields.
	As a result of this change a local authority now has to consult Sport England on any planning application in relation to playing fields where the playing field includes a playing pitch of 0.2 ha where the proposal is likely to prejudice the use or lead to the loss of use of land being used as a playing field.

JUSTICE

Corruption: Public Service

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 19 January 2010,  Official Report, column 13WS, on the UK Foreign Bribery Strategy, which Departments and agencies will be regular members of the Foreign Bribery Strategy Board.

Jack Straw: The following Departments and agencies are regular members of the Foreign Bribery Strategy Board:
	Attorney-General's Office, Association of Chief Police Officers, Cabinet Office, City of London Police, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Office, Crown Prosecution Service, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Department for International Development, Export Credit Guarantee Department, Financial Services Authority, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency, Office of Government Commerce, Serious Fraud Office and UK Trade and Investment.
	Other Departments and agencies are invited as required by the agenda.

David Kelly Death Inquiry

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Lewes of 1 February 2010,  Official Report, column 113W, on the David Kelly death inquiry, whether Lord Hutton made that recommendation after consultation with Dr Kelly's family; and whether Dr Kelly's family has been given access to the post mortem examination report.

Michael Wills: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) on 1 February 2010,  Official Report, column 113W. No determination has been made that the medical reports and photographs connected to the death of Dr. David Kelly should be closed for 70 years. Rather, Lord Hutton requested that the post mortem examination report relating to Dr. Kelly not be disclosed for 70 years because he was aware of the distress that could be caused to Dr. Kelly's wife and daughters. Disclosure of information during the course of the inquiry to any party to the proceedings was a matter for the inquiry and is not a matter on which the Government are able to comment.

Departmental Accountancy

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether any written instructions have been provided to his Department's Accounting Officer in accordance with paragraph 5.5 of the Ministerial Code since 1997.

Michael Wills: Since 1997 no written instructions have been provided to accounting officers of the Ministry of Justice or its predecessors, the Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Lord Chancellor's Department, in accordance with paragraph 5.5 of the Ministerial Code.

Departmental Consultants

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much consultants employed by his Department and its agencies have been paid  (a) in total and  (b) in reimbursable expenses in each of the last 10 years.

Jack Straw: The information requested is as follows.
	 (a) The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) collates dates on consultancy expenditure as part of its Consultancy Value Programme which assists Departments in driving greater value from Government's use of consultants. The Ministry's expenditure on consultancy for 2007-08 is reported as £56 million and can be found in the following link:
	http://www.ogc.gov.uk/professional_services_consultancy_ value_programme.asp
	Expenditure for 2008-09 is £49.7 million and will be reported soon on the same website.
	The OGC definition of consultancy is broad and includes professional services provided by, for example, lawyers, surveyors and architects and the employment of specialists on an interim basis to deliver project solutions, providing expertise for a defined period of time that is not available in-house.
	Both the 2007-08 and 2008-09 figures reflect expenditure by the Ministry of Justice headquarters, Her Majesty's Courts Service, the Tribunals Service, and the National Offender Management Service (except for the Probation Service).
	The Ministry was established in May 2007 so data is not available prior to 2007-08 in its current form.
	 (b) Expenses incurred by consultants in the course of Ministry of Justice business are normally included within their overall bills and are therefore included within the figures stated in part  (a). The amount attributable to expenses can be disaggregated from the total only at disproportionate cost.
	The costs of business related travel and accommodation by consultants may sometimes be met directly by the Ministry through contracted booking agents or by Government Procurement Card. Occasionally consultants may also claim for reimbursement of expenses met, in the first instance, from their own pocket. It is not possible to identify amounts relating specifically to consultants in any of these cases without incurring the disproportionate cost of examining huge numbers of supporting records held locally across the business.

Departmental Consultants

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many consultants his Department and its predecessors and its agencies have employed in each of the last 10 years; and how many hours were worked by such consultants for his Department and its agencies in each such year.

Jack Straw: The Ministry of Justice was formed on 9 May 2007. This merger included the former Department of Constitutional Affairs and the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). NOMS previously formed part of the Home Office.
	Availability of the data requested is therefore incomplete due to several machinery of Government and organisational changes which meant that procurement for my Department was not centralised prior to April 2009, and this data could therefore be gathered only at disproportionate cost.
	However, a manual data collection exercise for the period April 2008 to March 2009 was concluded on 31 October 2009. The scope of the manual data collection exercise was limited to NOMS (excluding Probation) and Access to Justice (excluding Legal Services Commission) and did not cover any non-departmental public bodies.
	Using the data received, there were 694 consultants/interim managers working for the Ministry of Justice in the financial year of 2008-09.
	Limitations with the collected data only make it possible to provide the total number of consultants/interim managers for 2008-09 without any breakdown of the specific hours worked.

Departmental Manpower

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many employees in  (a) his Department and  (b) each of its agencies are in transition prior to being managed out; how long on average the transition window between notification and exit has been in (i) his Department and its predecessors and (ii) each of its agencies in each of the last five years; what estimate he has made of the salary costs of staff in transition in each such year; and what proportion of employees in transition were classed as being so for more than six months in each year.

Michael Wills: Currently, there are 520 employees in the Ministry of Justice (including all agencies) who are in transition after accepting a voluntary early departure on severance or retirement terms. The breakdown of staff across the Ministry is as follows: two from the Office for the Public Guardian, 308 from the Access to Justice group, 199 from the National Offender Management Service and Her Majesty's Prison Service, 11 from the Corporate Performance Group. The majority are due to leave the Ministry within the next two to three months and the terms are governed by the Civil Service Compensation scheme. There are also 185 employees across the Ministry actively seeking permanent re-deployment following organisational change programmes.
	For the early departure, the term 'transition time' is defined as the elapsed time from a formal agreement to leave to the actual date of departure. For redeployment, it is the elapsed time from the re-organisation occurring to the individual taking up a new work post. The average transition time is 90 days. There are 10 staff who have remained on the redeployment list, as an exceptional basis, for longer than 6 months. Whilst employees are on the redeployment list, or have accepted voluntary early departure, they continue to undertake meaningful work duties.
	The average transition time in previous years has been 90 days.
	The department is unable to provide the average salary costs for staff in transition in each year. This information is not held centrally and obtaining it would incur a disproportionate cost as the department currently operates several pay and HR structures and would be reliant on a number of different sources to establish the information requested.

Departmental Manpower

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many performance reviews were undertaken in respect of staff of  (a) his Department and its predecessors and  (b) its agencies in each of the last five years; in how many cases performance was rated as unsatisfactory or below; how many staff left as a direct result of such a rating; and what percentage of full-time equivalent staff this represented.

Michael Wills: Staff employed by the Ministry are subject to differing performance management arrangements according to their terms and conditions and depending on which part of the Ministry of Justice or its agencies they are employed in.
	For all employees, performance management is a continuous process with annual and mid-year formal performance reviews of progress against objectives. The Ministry's performance management system requires poor performance to be addressed when it occurs and not simply at specific points in the reporting year. Where appropriate, additional coaching and support is provided to employees to enable them to reach and maintain the required standards of performance appropriate to their roles. However, when employees are unable to meet and maintain acceptable standards of performance, sanctions up to and including dismissal are available.
	 Senior civil servants
	Members of the senior civil service (SCS) are subject to a common performance management system based on relative assessment of achievement. Since 2007, the system has had four performance categories. Performance group four denotes performance not meeting the required standard. Prior to this, the performance management system had three performance categories: top, middle and lower tranche. The number of SCS employees receiving either a lower tranche or performance group four assessment is set out as follows.
	
		
			  Year of award  Number in lowest performance group  Percentage of SCS staff 
			 2009 15 5.9 
			 2008 14 5.7 
			 2007(1) 8 5.6 
			 2006(1) 10 6.7 
			 2005(1) 12 9.1 
			 (1) Refers only to former Department for Constitutional Affairs. 
		
	
	 Non-SCS employees
	Separate performance management arrangements (both in respect to in year and end of year assessment) exist for staff in grades below the SCS. Unlike the SCS, where employees are subject to relative peer group assessment with a guideline distribution between performance groups, below the SCS performance assessment is linked solely to the achievement of an individual's work objectives. Ministry of Justice (excluding the National Offender Management Services) employees receive annual performance appraisals that indicate one of three performance markings-Outstanding, Effective and Improvement Required. The number of employees receiving an Improvement Required or equivalent during the past five years is as follows:
	
		
			  Year of award  Number in lowest performance group  Percentage of staff( 1) 
			 2009 137 0.6 
			 2008 107 0.4 
			 2007 49 0.2 
			 2006(2) 25 0.2 
			 2005(2) 25 0.2 
			 (1) The percentage does not reflect all poor performers in so far as the appraisal system does not capture those individuals who are exited for capability and performance reasons within a reporting year. The percentages are also different to the SCS position because the performance assessment basis is different. (2) Figures far 2005 and 2006 omit staff from the former magistrates courts service who transferred to the Ministry in 2005. Details relating to these staff are included from 2007, following the introduction of common terms and conditions. 
		
	
	As the award of an unsatisfactory performance marking invokes poor performance procedures but does not directly result in dismissal it has not been possible to provide information on the number of staff who have left as a direct result of an Improvement Required rating during the past five years without incurring disproportionate costs. However, we can confirm that in 2009, of the 134 staff below the SCS who were judged Improvement Required, 22 are no longer employed by the Ministry of Justice.
	Appraisals are held annually for staff in the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) in grades below the SCS and there are four possible ratings: Exceeded, Achieved, Almost Achieved, and Unacceptable. The number of staff in NOMS who received an Unacceptable marking during the past five years, and the total number of recorded markings is as follows:
	
		
			  For year  Number in lowest performance group  Percentage of staff( 1) 
			 2004-05 96 0.22 
			 2005-06 134 0.33 
			 2006-07(2) 79 0.25 
			 2007-08 77 0.19 
			 2008-09 72 0.16 
			 (1) The percentage does not reflect all poor performers in so far as the appraisal system does not capture those individuals who are exited for capability and performance reasons within a reporting year. The percentages are also different to the SCS position because the performance assessment basis is different. (2) There were fewer markings recorded in 2006-07 due to a change in reporting systems. 
		
	
	Information on the number of staff who received an Unacceptable marking and then left NOMS within the following year is contained in the following table (departures could be for any reason).
	
		
			  Staff receiving unacceptable markings who then left within one year 
			  For year  Number  As percentage of unacceptable markings  As percentage of all staff 
			 2004-05 45 46.9 0.1 
			 2005-06 75 56.0 0.2 
			 2006-07 37 46.8 0.1 
			 2007-08 29 37.7 0.1 
			 2008-09 10 13.9 0.0 
		
	
	NOMS processes mirror those in the rest of the Ministry in that performance management is a continuous process, based upon agreed objectives and in-year reviews. The Unacceptable marking does not automatically result in dismissal. However, employment may be terminated where the employee fails to meet the appropriate standard despite appropriate warnings and support. It has not been possible to provide information on the number of NOMS employees who have left the service as a direct result of an Unacceptable rating as the information is unavailable.

Departmental Recruitment

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department and its agencies spent on recruitment consultants in the last 12 months.

Michael Wills: The majority of permanent recruitment is managed internally by the Ministry's HR function. For specialist or senior vacancies, it is sometimes necessary, however, to use recruitment consultants to access a wider pool of talent.
	The Ministry's accounting systems do not separately identify expenditure on recruitment consultants. Payments to recruitment consultants are recorded within the wider categories of recruitment expenditure. To specifically identify expenditure on recruitment consultants would involve the disproportionate cost of examining a large number of invoices held locally across the business.
	Additionally, recruitment consultants are usually involved in the continuing supply of temporary and contract staff where the fee paid represents the amount paid directly to the contractor, plus the agency's management fee which includes their charge for recruiting the contractor. The management fee element can vary depending on the terms negotiated for individual contracts. Fees to recruitment consultants for the continuing supply of contract and agency staff can only be distinguished from fees for specific recruitment campaigns at a disproportionate cost.

Departmental Recruitment

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department and its agencies have spent on font licensing in the last three years.

Michael Wills: Payments by the Ministry of Justice for software application licences, for example for Microsoft Windows, include an amount in respect of core fonts used within the application. Software publishers license fonts from foundries and are responsible for passing on the royalty to the foundries from the licence fee. The element of the total licence amount that relates to fonts is not identifiable to the Ministry of Justice as the purchaser of the software application licence.
	The Ministry of Justice does, however, make some payments directly in respect of the licence of specialised fonts used in publications. The amounts are not separately identified in accounting records. Payments are normally made via the Government Procurement Card and could be identified only at disproportionate cost by examining thousands of statements held locally around the business.
	However, we are aware that £437 has been paid in respect of five font licences in the 2009-10 year to date by the Ministry's central design team which is responsible for group wide publications.

Departmental Recruitment

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many job vacancies in his Department and its agencies were filled through external recruitment in the last 12 months.

Michael Wills: For the period 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2009 the Ministry of Justice and its agencies, including the National Offender Management Service, filled a total of 4,175 job vacancies through external recruitment. The vacancies advertised were for permanent as well as fixed-term posts.
	The Ministry recruits in line with the Civil Service Commissioners' recruitment principles and is committed to recruitment on merit through fair and open competition.

Driving Offences: Fines

Robert Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in other EU member states on the implementation of the Council Framework Decision 2005/214/JHA on the cross-border collection of fines for motoring offences.

Bridget Prentice: My officials have been in contact with officials at the European Commission, the Scottish and Northern Irish Ministries of Justice both prior to and post-implementation of this EU directive. They conducted a webcast on 9 October 2009 in conjunction with SPARKS in which a member of the EC responsible for MRFP also participated; they attended a European workshop in Stockholm on 15 October 2009 organised by the Commission; and they visited their counterparts in the Netherlands' Central Authority (CJIB) on 4 December 2009.

Fines

Robert Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many applications have been received from other EU member states for the payment of fines under the terms of the Council Framework Decision 2005/214/JHA on the application of the principle of mutual recognition of financial penalties; and how many such applications have proceeded to court.

Bridget Prentice: The Central Authority for England and Wales has received four mutual recognition of financial penalties (MRFP) applications from EU member states since the Framework Decision was implemented on 1 October 2009. These applications concerned offences in the Netherlands which were convicted prior to the implementation date and therefore had to be returned to the originating state. No applications have yet proceeded to court.

Freedom of Information

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 9 December 2009,  Official Report, column 351W, on freedom of information, if he will bring forward proposals to ensure that public bodies which enter into partnership with other public bodies are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Michael Wills: The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) gives the Secretary of State the power to extend the coverage of the Act, by way of a section 5 order, to organisations that he considers to exercise public functions or deliver public authority services under contract.
	On 16 July 2009, the Government published its response to the consultation on extending the scope of the FOIA to cover additional bodies by way of a section 5 order. The Government response proposed an initial, focused section 5 order and noted its intention to consult Academies, ACPO, Financial Ombudsman Service and UCAS on their possible inclusion in such an order.
	The Government are keeping the possibility of further section 5 orders under review.

Injunctions

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme of 28 October 2009,  Official Report, column 422W, on Trafigura: injunctions, when he expects to announce the result of his assessment of the effects of the practice of granting injunctions which prohibit the reporting of the grant of the injunction.

Bridget Prentice: At my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor's (Mr. Straw) request, senior officials at the Ministry of Justice have met with representatives of the national press to discuss the issues raised by the Trafigura case and the use of so-called super-injunctions generally. The Justice Secretary is considering matters in the light of this, including engaging with the senior judiciary. He will make a statement to the House after that.

Knives: Sentencing

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many retailers have been  (a) cautioned,  (b) fined and  (c) imprisoned for selling knives to people under the necessary purchasing age in each police force area in each year since 1998-99.

Claire Ward: The requested information is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Cautions, fines and custodial sentences for selling a knife to a person under age( 1)  by criminal justice area, 1998 to 2008 
			   1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Bedfordshire
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 Cumbria
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 Derbyshire
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 Devon and Cornwall
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 Gloucestershire
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 Greater Manchester
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 1 0 3 2 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 Hampshire
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 Hertfordshire
			 Cautions 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 Lancashire
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 Leicestershire
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 Lincolnshire
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 London(2)
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 
			 Fines 2 1 0 1 3 3 1 16 31 15 11 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 North Yorkshire
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 4 0 0 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 Nottinghamshire
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 Surrey
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 Sussex
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 Thames Valley
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 0 0 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 West Mercia
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 West midlands
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 4 1 1 0 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 Wiltshire
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 4 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 Dyfed-Powys
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 Gwent
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 3 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 North Wales
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 South Wales
			 Cautions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Fines 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			 England and Wales total
			 Cautions 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 1 
			 Fines 2 1 0 8 10 14 6 25 43 29 22 
			 Custodial sentence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 (1) 16 as enacted by the Criminal Justice Act 1988 amended to 18 by Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006. (2) Includes City of London and Metropolitan police force areas.  Note: Where a criminal justice area doe not appear in the table there have been no fines, custodial sentences or cautions issued in any of the years shown.

Land Registry

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many properties registered with the Land Registry have changed ownership in each month since January 2009.

Michael Wills: Land Registry is able to provide information on the total number of registered properties sold in each month from January 2009 to December 2009. As these figures are extracted using price paid data, no information is available for any properties which have not been sold. The only way to identify other changes of ownership would be to extract data regarding every application event over the time period asked for. This could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
	The figures are reflected in the following table:
	
		
			  Month  Vol sales 
			 January 2009 27399 
			 February 2009 28387 
			 March 2009 37423 
			 April 2009 40004 
			 May 2009 46142 
			 June 2009 53901 
			 July 2009 63382 
			 August 2009 58276 
			 September 2009 57838 
			 October 2009 64123 
			 November 2009 57613 
			 December 2009 66664

Land Registry

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the (a) mean and (b) median sale price in 2008-09 prices was of house sales registered with the Land Registry in each year since 2000.

Michael Wills: Land Registry is able to provide data on the mean price paid of all residential sales registered in each year since 2000. Details of the percentage change on annual average prices has been calculated on the basis of the 2008 calendar year prices as the RPI data covering the 2008-09 financial year is not yet available.
	This question has been answered on the basis of recorded sales figures in England and Wales. Land Registry does not hold the information requested on median price paid and could not produce it except at disproportionate cost.
	The figures are reflected in the following table:
	
		
			   Mean price paid in (£)  Mean price paid in £ (adjusted to 2008 prices)( 1)  RPI index (1987 = 100) 
			 2000 108,164 136,428 170.3 
			 2001 119,275 147,838 173.3 
			 2002 138,200 168,475 176:2 
			 2003 156,154 185,008 181.3 
			 2004 178,542 205,414 186.7 
			 2005 189,580 212,093 192 
			 2006 203,708 220,881 198.1 
			 2007 219,408 228,116 206.6 
			 2008 217,010 217,010 214.8 
			 2009 213,370 214,468 213.7 
			 (1) Prices adjusted using the UK all items Retail Prices Index (RPI)

Youth Justice Board and Legal Services Commission: Sick Leave

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of working days lost per employee at  (a) the Legal Services Commission and  (b) the Youth Justice Board in the latest period for which figures are available; and what steps he is taking to reduce levels of staff absence at each body.

Bridget Prentice: The average number of days taken as sickness absence at the Legal Services Commission during 2008-09 was 7.98 per employee. This has decreased from 9.17 in 2007-08 and 10.7 in 2006-07.
	The LSC has been reviewing its absence policy year-on-year in order to reduce absence levels. The target for 2009-10 is 7.66 days (a 4 per cent. reduction on 2008-09). Following the most recent review in 2009, online training has been further developed to support managers and absence trigger points (where the return to work meeting between the manager and employee become a more formal process) have been lowered to seven days. An absence panel has been set up to review any long-term sickness absence and ensure support systems such as occupational health referrals, home visits and the employee assistance programme are in place.
	No days are recorded as having been lost as a result of staff being unable to make it to work due to adverse weather conditions or travel disruption as it is the LSC's policy to give line managers the flexibility to authorise home working where appropriate or convert any absences in these circumstances into annual, flexible or special leave.
	In 2008-09, the average number of days taken as sickness absence at the Youth Justice Board was 3.7 days per employee. It has a robust attendance management policy in place outlining clearly line managers' responsibilities to support staff, manage absence and the actions they need to take at different trigger points. This includes interventions at cumulative absence and consecutive absence points, the requirement to conduct documented return to work interviews, line manager and/or occupational health and welfare services contact and formalised case conferences.
	The YJB's HR team works closely with line managers across the business to monitor instances of sickness absences and provide advice, support and interventions, where necessary, to reduce the level of sickness absence even further. Sickness absence figures are also included in the YJB's Organisational Health Indicators.
	In addition the YJB runs a health and well-being programme to encourage staff to be aware of the health and fitness and take steps to improve their well-being. This includes access to eye tests, cycle to work schemes, discounted gym memberships, advice on tackling stress and access to health screening.
	No days are recorded as having been lost as a result of staff being unable to make it to work due to adverse weather conditions or travel disruption as it is the YJB's policy to give line manager's the flexibility to authorise home working where appropriate or convert any absences in these circumstances into annual, flexible or special leave.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

British Council

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the reason for the cost of  (a) IT for his Department and  (b) the finance function for the British Council referred to in the publication Benchmarking the Back Office: Central Government; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: The information requested is as follows:
	 Cost of IT for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)
	The figures reported in 'Benchmarking the Back Office: Central Government' equate to costs of £115 million in running and maintaining the FCO IT estate in 2008-2009. This reflects the fact that the FCO operates over a substantial global network on behalf of the Government overseas and needs to conform to strict security standards. The figure also includes temporary costs related to the transformation of our IT platforms. We expect IT costs to reduce following completion of this transformation.
	 Finance function for the British Council
	The figures reported in 'Benchmarking the Back Office: Central Government' report were based on the British Council's published 2008-09 statutory accounts and include all UK and overseas transaction processing staff, corporate finance, management accounting, tax, treasury and training staff together with their share of IT and accommodation costs.
	The British Council has embarked on a programme to double its cultural relations impact. This includes a global finance transformation project to ensure effective and efficient support services, which will deliver improved service quality and increased efficiency with significantly lower transactional costs.

Departmental Billing

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the average length of time taken by  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies to pay invoices from (i) small and medium-sized enterprises and (ii) all creditors in the last 12 months.

Chris Bryant: My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced in October 2008 that all central Government Departments would aim to pay invoices within 10 days.
	In December 2009, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and FCO Services (its Trading Fund) together paid 97.5 per cent. of invoices within 10 days. This performance is an increase of 27.2 per cent. points compared to November 2008, when 70.3 per cent. of invoices were paid within 10 days.
	We do not differentiate payments by supplier size as we have determined to pay all suppliers within 10 days.
	This response relates to the FCO in the UK. Information regarding the status of suppliers overseas is not available without incurring disproportionate costs.

Departmental ICT

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department and its agencies have spent on font licensing in the last three years.

Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has no font licensing agreements and no expenditure was incurred on font licensing in the last three years.

Departmental Information Officers

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff in his Department and its agencies have the status of  (a) embedded communicators and  (b) are members of the Government Communications Network and are not listed in the Central Office of Information White Book.

Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not hold this information centrally and it is available only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Manpower

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many employees in  (a) his Department and  (b) each of its agencies are in transition prior to being managed out; how long on average the transition window between notification and exit has been in (i) his Department and (ii) each of its agencies in each of the last five years; what estimate he has made of the salary costs of staff in transition in each such year; and what proportion of employees in transition were classed as being so for more than six months in each year.

Chris Bryant: As there were fewer than five cases, in line with Cabinet Office guidance, details are not provided to avoid revealing the identity of individuals and on grounds of confidentiality.

Departmental Recruitment

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many job vacancies in his Department and its agencies were filled through external recruitment in the last year for which figures are available.

Chris Bryant: Since February 2009 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has filled 211 vacancies through external recruitment.
	In the same period the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has also filled one vacancy at the Imperial War Museum through external recruitment.

European Council

William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will propose at the next meeting of the European Council at which the proposed inter-governmental conference is to be discussed, amendments under Article 48 of the Treaty on European Union to  (a) assert the sovereignty of the UK and  (b) ensure that the Declaration of Primacy No. 17 of the Lisbon Treaty shall not be deemed as being capable of being construed by UK courts as preventing Parliament (i) legislating expressly and inconsistently with and (ii) amending or overriding European legislation.

Chris Bryant: No.

European Council

William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reasons he agreed at the meeting of the European Council in December 2009 to request that the European Parliament should not convene an intergovernmental conference; and if he will make it his policy to seek such a conference to be convened.

Chris Bryant: The European Parliament has no power to convene an intergovernmental conference.

Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what representations he has made to the UN in respect of the rules of engagement in the  (a) Southern and  (b) Northern No Fly Zones in Iraq between 1998 and 2002;
	(2)  what representations his Department has received in respect of the rules of engagement in the Southern No Fly Zones in Iraq between 1998 and 2002.

Chris Bryant: During the period in question the Department had a number of discussions with the UN and allies on the No Fly Zones in Iraq. The zones, established in support of UN Security Council Resolution 688, were justified under international law in response to a situation of overwhelming humanitarian necessity due to Saddam Hussein's violent oppression of Iraq's minority communities. Between 1998 and 2002 Saddam Hussein waged a systematic campaign against UK (and US) aircraft carrying out patrols-violating the No Fly Zones-designed to prevent a return to the brutal repression of the Kurdish and other minorities in the north and the Shi'a in the south. Our aircraft were authorised to respond to attacks solely in self-defence. All such defensive action was strictly limited to proportional responses against Iraqi weapons and facilities that posed a direct threat to coalition forces. My hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Lewis) will write to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley with more detail on the representations made between 1998 and 2002.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 21 January 2010,  Official Report, column 468W, on Palestinians: overseas aid, what assessment he has made of whether Israel is in compliance with its obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention in respect of the population of Gaza; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: We have serious concerns about the Israeli restrictions on Gaza and the impact they have on the lives of Gazans. Although there is no permanent physical Israeli presence in Gaza, given the significant control that Israel has over Gaza's borders, airspace and territorial waters, Israel retains obligations under the fourth Geneva convention as an occupying power. The fourth Geneva convention is clear that an occupying power must co-operate in allowing the passage and distribution of relief consignments. The restrictions currently imposed on the passage of relief supplies are, as we see it, a disproportionate response to the security threat.
	We have consistently pressed the Israeli Government to comply with their obligations under international law and allow passage of relief supplies. Although aid is entering Gaza, according to the UN this is insufficient to meet the needs of the Gazan people.

USA

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next plans to make an official visit to the United States.

Chris Bryant: For security and operational reasons, we do not announce visits by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary significantly in advance.

USA: Nuclear Weapons

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the US administration on stockpiles of nuclear weapons; and what his policy is on the steps to be taken by the Government and the US administration on reducing such stockpiles.

Chris Bryant: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regularly discuss nuclear issues, and UK officials frequently discuss with the US the implementation of all aspects of the non-proliferation treaty including our article VI disarmament obligations.
	We look forward to an agreement between the US and Russia to achieve significant cuts in their nuclear arsenals by agreeing a successor to the strategic arms reduction treaty. This will be a major contribution to our shared endeavour towards a world without nuclear weapons, and will help to build trust and pave the way for greater reductions.
	The UK has taken a number of significant disarmament steps in recent years, and is committed to retaining only the minimum credible nuclear deterrent capability; we regularly review the number of warheads in the UK stockpile in that light. The UK firmly believes that sustainable global nuclear disarmament can only be achieved through a multilateral process, and stands ready to engage in a broader multilateral process when the conditions are right.

USA: Nuclear Weapons

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the US administration on international nuclear proliferation.

Chris Bryant: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discusses a range of international nuclear proliferation issues regularly with Secretary of State Clinton and the US Administration and did so most recently on 28 January 2010. My hon. Friend Mr. Ivan Lewis has done likewise with his counterparts. Strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime and re-energising the nuclear non-proliferation treaty is a top foreign policy priority for the Government and the US Government.

War Crimes: Arrest Warrants

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list each representation he has received from the US State Department  (a) orally and  (b) in writing on UK procedures for the issue of arrest warrants in respect of foreign nationals alleged to have committed war crimes in the last 12 months.

Chris Bryant: I have not had any direct representations from the US State Department on UK procedures for the issue of arrest warrants in respect of foreign nationals alleged to have committed war crimes in the last 12 months. My officials have been asked by colleagues in the State Department for factual accounts of incidents in which such arrest warrants have been sought. There have been no written representations from the US State Department on this subject during this time.

HEALTH

Cancer: Drugs

Brian Binley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many persons with cancer in Northampton South constituency did not receive drugs designed to prolong their life following a report for such drugs in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mike O'Brien: This information is not collected centrally. However this information might be available direct from Northamptonshire Primary Care Trust.

Drugs: Children In Care

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether medical practitioners are required to inform local authorities when they administer drugs to children in care.

Ann Keen: There is no requirement on medical practitioners to inform local authorities when administering drugs to child in care. However, treatment of a child, including the prescription or administrating of drugs by medical practitioners, requires consent. In the case of children who lack the capacity to consent for themselves, a doctor would need to ask for consent from those with parental responsibility, which, for those on a care order, would be a local authority.

Drugs: Testing

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has evaluated on the comparative  (a) safety and  (b) effectiveness of (i) human biology-based testing and (ii) animal testing of new drugs and treatments.

Ann Keen: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the competent authority responsible for the issuing on Marketing Authorisations (licences) and assessing Clinical Trial Applications for medicinal products and devices.
	The MHRA has not directly evaluated any specific studies on the comparative safety and effectiveness of human biology testing and animal testing of new drugs and treatment. The MHRA has, however, been indirectly involved in a number of initiatives in this field that are actively evaluating the replacement of whole animal studies with suitable alternatives, including the use of human tissue samples. Today's approaches to drug development, involving an integrated programme of non-clinical testing and clinical trials, have been built up on a rational and scientific basis for more than 30 years. At present there are no validated and established laboratory methods available to totally replace animal testing of medicinal products.

Health Protection Agency

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent progress has been made on the Health Protection Agency's Project Chrysalis; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Health Protection Agency was given approval of its strategic outline case for Project Chrysalis in August 2008 and since then has been working on the next stage, the outline business case.

Health Protection Agency

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for the future of the Health Protection Agency site at Porton Down; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Department will consider the Health Protection Agency's business case for redevelopment of its facilities at Porton Down (Project Chrysalis) when it is submitted.

Health Protection Agency: Finance

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Health Protection Agency's Project Chrysalis had cost on the latest date for which figures are available.

Gillian Merron: The Health Protection Agency's project Chrysalis has spent a total of £9.4 million from its inception to 31 December 2009.

Health Protection Agency: Location

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received on the proposed relocation of the Health Protection Agency Centre for Emergency Preparedness from Porton Down to Harlow, Essex; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: Written representations have been received from the hon. Member for Salisbury to the Minister for Public Health in July 2009 and from the Leader of Wiltshire council to departmental officials in January 2010.

Health Protection Agency: Manpower

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many employees work at the Health Protection Agency's Porton Down site.

Gillian Merron: The Health Protection Agency's Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response, at Porton Down, directly employs 598 staff. After allowing for part-time working, this equates to 578 whole time equivalents.

Health Services: Disabled

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much of the £340 million included in primary care trust (PCT) baseline allocations for the three years from 2008-09 to 2010-11 for disabled children's services under the Child Health Strategy has been allocated to each PCT.

Ann Keen: Individual primary care trusts (PCTs) allocations are not broken down or ring-fenced into funding for individual policies such as the Child Health Strategy. It is for PCTs to decide how best to deliver the national and local requirements of the NHS Operating Framework, including how much resource to invest on individual priorities.

Hospital Beds

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds  (a) there were and  (b) were occupied in each type of hospital ward in 2008-09.

Mike O'Brien: The number of occupied and available bed days and day only beds is collected annually, from national health service providers by ward classification. The following tables show the number of available beds by ward classification and the occupancy rate for the period 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009:
	
		
			  Average daily number of available and occupied beds in wards open overnight by ward classification, England, 2008-09 
			  Ward classification  Available beds  Occupied beds 
			 All ward types 159,386 136,203 
			 Intensive care: neonates 1,805 1,321 
			 Intensive care: paediatric 317 231 
			 Intensive care: wholly or mainly adult 3,727 3,046 
			 Terminally ill/palliative care: wholly or mainly adult 458 365 
			 Younger physically disabled 487 378 
			 Other general and acute: neonates and children 8,123 5,332 
			 Other general and acute: elderly: normal care 19,382 17,898 
			 Other general and acute: elderly: limited care 1,413 1,237 
			 Other general and acute: other 85,976 75,691 
			 Maternity 8,386 5,532 
			 Mental illness: children: short stay 528 389 
			 Mental illness: children: long stay 29 23 
			 Mental illness: elderly: short stay 6,344 5,147 
			 Mental illness: elderly: long stay 2,047 1,646 
			 Mental illness: other ages: secure unit 3,292 3,003 
			 Mental illness: other ages: short stay 11,242 10,040 
			 Mental illness: other ages: long stay 2,948 2,532 
			 Learning disabilities: children: short stay 186 115 
			 Learning disabilities: children: long stay 19 14 
			 Learning disabilities: other ages: secure unit 539 504 
			 Learning disabilities: other ages: short stay 938 709 
			 Learning disabilities: other ages: long stay 1,200 1,051 
		
	
	
		
			  Average daily number of available beds in wards open day only, England, 2008-09 
			   Available beds  Occupied beds 
			 Total 10,959 9,717 
			 Neonates and children 798 573 
			 Other ages 10,161 9,143 
		
	
	
		
			  Average daily number of available and occupied residential beds, England, 2008-09 
			   Available beds  Occupied beds 
			 Total 2,941 2,568 
			 Mental illness 1,186 1,017 
			 Learning disabilities 1,646 1,477 
			 Other 109 74 
			  Source: Department of Health form KH03

NHS Trusts: Registration

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS trusts did not submit an application for registration with the Care Quality Commission by 29 January 2010.

Mike O'Brien: The information has been provided by the Care Quality Commission. Of the 382 trusts due to submit an application for registration with the Care Quality Commission, 376 did so by 29 January. Of the six applications which were not submitted, two were late. The remaining four did not submit applications by 29 January with the prior agreement of the Commission, because they are in the process of transferring registered services.

NHS: Finance

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on  (a) management,  (b) administration and  (c) estates staff by each (i) strategic health authority, (ii) primary care trust, (iii) NHS trust and (iv) non-departmental public body for which his Department is responsible in each year since 1997.

Mike O'Brien: The information in respect of strategic health authorities, primary care trusts and NHS trusts has been placed in the Library. The Department holds information at organisation level for seven years, therefore 2002-03 is the earliest period for which figures are available.
	The information requested for non-departmental public bodies is not held centrally.

NHS: Standards

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department took to inform those not party to the negotiations that discussions on the Quality and Outcomes Framework had been postponed.

Mike O'Brien: The Department issued a press notice on 15 September 2009 announcing that as part of the agreement with the British Medical Association on a vaccination programme for the at-risk groups against swine flu, that there will be no changes to the Quality and Outcomes Framework in 2010-11. A copy has been placed in the Library.
	In addition, NHS Employers who negotiate changes to the General Medical Services contract on behalf of the Department published details on the conclusion of the negotiations on its website on 14 January 2010, with a parallel announcement to local primary care trusts issued by NHS Primary Care Commissioning in their newsletter on 13 January 2010.
	Details can be found on NHS Employers website at:
	http://www.nhsemployers.org/PayAndContracts/General MedicalServicesContract/LatestNews-GMS/Pages/Agreement reachedonGeneralMedicalServices%E2%80%99 contract negotiations.aspx

Nurses: Schools

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many qualified school nurses are employed in schools in  (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency and  (b) the London Borough of Bexley.

Ann Keen: The information is not held in the format requested. Information is available for the number of qualified nursing staff in the school nursing area of work, directly employed by national health service organisations. The two NHS organisations which employ school nurses in the Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency or the London borough of Bexley are Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust and Bexley Care Trust. The NHS Information Centre reports that there was one qualified nursing staff in the school nursing area of work in the Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust as at 30 September 2008. At a local level, the staff who carry out school nursing roles carry out a range and variety of other duties in addition to their school nursing role and therefore may have different job titles. Bexley Care Trust did not report any school nursing staff on their 2008 census return. However, recent correspondence with the Trust has revealed that this was due to a local coding issue. We advise contacting Bexley Care Trust directly to obtain their figures.

DEFENCE

Air Force: Deployment

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average unit tour interval was for each  (a) aircraft and  (b) helicopter crew type in the Royal Air Force in the latest period for which figures are available.

Bill Rammell: The average unit tour interval for each RAF aircraft and helicopter crew type, including those in Joint Helicopter Command, as at 1 February 2010 is provided in the table. The roles and deployment patterns vary between each type of aircraft and this is reflected in the tour intervals experienced by their aircrew. Aircrew when not deployed on operations continue to meet defence commitments and conduct training.
	
		
			  Aircraft type  Average tour interval  Tours 
			 Hercules C130K 42 days Afghanistan 
			 Hercules C130J 92 days Afghanistan and Iraq 
			 Hercules C130K 90 days Falkland Islands 
			 Sentinel 63 days Afghanistan 
			 Tristar 70 days Afghanistan 
			 VC10 20 months Falkland Islands 
			 Tornado GR4 18 months Afghanistan 
			 Typhoon 45 Weeks Falkland Islands 
			 BAE125 3 months Afghanistan 
			 BAE146 3 months Afghanistan 
			 Chinook 42 weeks Afghanistan 
			 Merlin 44 weeks Afghanistan 
			 Sea King 17 months Falkland Islands

Armed Forces: Health Services

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he decided to hold a review of out-of-hours primary care for service personnel; what the terms of reference are of that review; and when it will be concluded.

Quentin Davies: The review was initiated by the Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff for Health in January 2010. It will look at the current provision of out-of-hours primary care cover for service personnel, and consider other options for providing a service that is both efficient and cost-effective, while fully meeting the needs of patients. An interim report is due in March 2010, from which further plans will be made.

Armed forces: Housing

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 26 January 2010,  Official Report, columns 792-4W, on armed forces: housing, to whom the 370 houses in Scotland sold by his Department to persons other than registered social landlords or local authorities were sold.

Kevan Jones: Of the 370 houses sold by the MOD in financial year 2008-09, other than to registered social landlords or local authorities, 321 houses in the Moray council area were sold through open competition in two separate transactions to Julian Hodge Bank Ltd., following informal discussions with the local authority and registered social landlords. The remaining 49 houses were sold individually on the open market, further details of which can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed forces: Housing

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 25 January 2010,  Official Report, columns 517-18W, on armed forces: housing, for what reason Helensburgh was chosen for the small-scale representative assessment; whether his Department plans to undertake further assessments; and whether the Helensburgh assessment is assumed to be representative of the housing stock held by his Department in Scotland.

Kevan Jones: As stated in my earlier response of 25 January 2010,  Official Report, columns 517-18W, the small scale representative survey at Helensburgh was carried out in order to assess proposed future investment priorities at that location. We have no plans to carry out any assessments for Energy Performance certificates on any further properties. No assumptions have been made as to the wider implications of the Helensburgh assessment.
	As the hon. Member will already be aware, MOD uses the Code for Sustainable Homes for new build and the EcoHomes06 Sustainability Assessment model for major improvement works.

Iraq and Afghanistan: Injuries

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many personnel injured in  (a) Iraq and  (b) Afghanistan have (i) lost both legs and both arms, (ii) lost both legs at or above the knee, (iii) lost both legs below the knee, (iv) lost one leg at or above the knee, (v) lost one leg below the knee, (vi) lost both arms at or above the elbow, (vii) lost both arms below the elbow, (viii) lost one arm at or above the elbow, (ix) lost one arm below the elbow, (x) received deep second degree or third degree burns to more than 70 per cent. of the body, (xi) been blinded in both eyes and (xii) been made deaf in each month since both conflicts began; and if he will make a statement.

Kevan Jones: The Ministry of Defence publishes the numbers of personnel categorised as very seriously injured and seriously injured as a result of Operations Telic and Herrick on its website at:
	www.mod.uk
	The figures are updated fortnightly. In addition, we are committed to publishing on a quarterly basis the numbers of service personnel who have suffered limb amputations as a result of injuries sustained while on operational deployment, and DAS A will be publishing figures up to the end of 2009 shortly. However, in order both to protect the identities of small numbers of patients and to maintain operational security for the effectiveness of our protective countermeasures, we do not routinely publish VSI and SI sub-classified by other types of physical injury.
	We will of course continue to welcome and encourage the publication by members of the Defence Medical Services of clinical papers that advance medical knowledge. These will normally appear in the appropriate peer-reviewed publications, and although they may contain statistics and analysis of specific injuries, care will be taken to ensure that they do not compromise operational security or patient confidentiality.

Military Aircraft: Helicopters

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2010,  Official Report, column 205W, on military aircraft: helicopters, when he expects main gate approval to be obtained for specific upgrades to extend the service life of the  (a) Merlin Mk3,  (b) Merlin Mk3a,  (c) Sea King Mk4,  (d) Sea King Mk7,  (e) Apache,  (f) Chinook Mk2 and  (g) Chinook Mk2a.

Quentin Davies: We expect to proceed to main gate approval for Sea King Mk4 this year. All other main gate approvals, with the exception of the procurement of an additional 22 new Chinook and a relatively modest investment in Sea King Mk7, will not take place until the conclusion of the Defence Review.

RAF Northolt

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many  (a) military and  (b) civilian aircraft (i) arrived at and (ii) departed from RAF Northolt in each year since 2007.

Bill Rammell: This information is not held in the format requested; however, the following table details the number of aircraft movements, which could be an arrival or departure, for each of the last three years:
	
		
			   Civilian  Military 
			 2007 7,377 4,712 
			 2008 7,139 5,373 
			 2009 5,905 6,980 
		
	
	The number of civilian movements quoted in the above table includes non-commercial civilian aircraft movements, for example those transporting visiting Royalty and Heads of State. Civil commercial movements at RAF Northolt are limited to 7,000 per calendar year.

Rescue Services: Helicopters

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contractual provisions his Department has negotiated to ensure that providers of equity capital to the successful bidder for the search and rescue helicopter service private finance initiative contract are required to hold their investment for a defined period of time; and if he will make a statement.

Quentin Davies: Under the draft contract the equity providers to the successful service provider for the SAR-H PFI will not be allowed to change their holding in the service provider for a number of years after the service has commenced. After this time, the equity providers may transfer their holding provided they give notice to the Government and the transferee is a suitable third party.

Rescue Services: Helicopters

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assurances his Department has  (a) sought and  (b) received that the successful bidder for the search and rescue helicopter service private finance initiative contract will take full responsibility for helicopter search and rescue services and ensure continuity of management and ownership over the period of the proposed contract.

Quentin Davies: Assurances have been sought and received from bidders that if successful they will take full responsibility for helicopter search and rescue services and ensure continuity of efficient management for the duration of the contract.
	The owners of the service provider will not be allowed to change their holding in the service provider for a number of years after the service has commenced. After this time, the Government restrict the circumstances in which ownership and the principal sub-contracting chain may change.

Rescue Services: Helicopters

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2010,  Official Report, column 206W, on rescue services: helicopters, when he expects the competition for new search and rescue helicopters to be completed; and what progress has been made in the competition.

Quentin Davies: The Search and Rescue Helicopter (SAR-H) competition is ongoing. We anticipate making an announcement of the preferred bidder very shortly and, thereafter, working with the preferred bidder to bring the project to contract later in the year.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Cold Weather Payments

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in  (a) Ribble Valley constituency,  (b) Lancashire and  (c) the UK received cold weather payments in December 2009.

Helen Goodman: holding answer 2 February 2010
	Cold weather payment information is only available by weather station, not by constituency or county. The number of cold weather payments authorised in December 2009 for Great Britain is estimated to be 4.0 million. Information on cold weather payments in Northern Ireland is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
	 Notes
	1. The information provided is for the estimated number of payments that were authorised in December- this does not necessarily mean they were paid in December.
	2. Some people had more than one payment authorised, so the number of payments authorised is greater than the number of people for whom payment was authorised.
	 Source:
	DWP records of triggers to weather stations notified in December 2009 and estimates of potential qualifiers by weather station.

Departmental Consultants

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what expenditure her Department has incurred on each management consultant engaged in connection with the Pensions Transformation programme in the last 12 months.

Angela Eagle: The Department for Work and Pensions spent £5.007 million on consultants engaged in connection with the Pension Transformation programme for 2008-09. The spend for 2009-10 to date is nil.
	We are unable to provide expenditure by individual supplier as this information is commercial in confidence.

Housing and Council Tax Benefit

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many people received housing benefit in each of the last 10 years, broken down by local authority area;
	(2)  how many households received council tax benefit in each of the last 10 years, broken down by local authority area.

Helen Goodman: holding answers 28 January 2010
	The available information has been placed in the Library.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  when she plans to reply to the letter of 14 December 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. J Duncan;
	(2)  when she plans to reply to the letter of 21 December 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. P Harris;
	(3)  when she plans to reply to the letter of 22 December 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. M. Naseem.

Helen Goodman: Replies were sent to my right hon. Friend on 2 February 2010.

Members: Correspondence

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when she plans to answer the letter of 11 November 2009, ref. SJW/SJW, from the hon. Member for Northavon on the state pension of a constituent.

Angela Eagle: I replied to the hon. Member on 4 February 2010 and I apologise again for the delay in doing so.

Nuclear Submarines: Safety

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 9 November 2009,  Official Report, column 46W, on nuclear submarines, what methodology the Health and Safety Executive's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate used to determine the radius of the emergency pre-planning zone around a berthed nuclear-powered submarine.

David Kidney: I have been asked to reply.
	As required under the Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations 2001, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) identified the potential radiation hazards from berthed nuclear-powered submarines and furnished this information to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Having assessed the hazards so identified, HSE formed the judgment that a Detailed Emergency Planning Zone (DEPZ) set at a radius of 1.5 km from the submarines would provide a valid area in which the arrangements of local authorities should be applied to protect the public and society in the event of a reasonably foreseeable radiation emergency involving one of the submarines. The decision to reduce the DEPZ from 2 km to 1.5 km took account of an improved analysis of the potential radiation hazards by MOD.

Pension Credit

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioner households were paid  (a) pension guarantee credit,  (b) pension savings credit and  (c) pension guarantee and pension savings credit in 2009.

Angela Eagle: The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			  Households in receipt and individual beneficiaries of pension credit as at May 2009 
			   Household recipients  Individual beneficiaries 
			 Guarantee credit only 925,710 1,123,530 
			 Savings credit only 599,590 791,520 
			 Guarantee and savings credit 1,205,230 1,425,130 
			  Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of themselves and a partner. 3. The number of individual beneficiaries includes both claimants and their partners.  Source: DWP Information Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal! Study 100 per cent. data

Pension Credit: Derbyshire

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what her latest estimate is of the number of pensioners in each constituency in Derbyshire who are eligible for but do not claim pension credit.

Angela Eagle: Estimates of eligibility and therefore those who are entitled to pension credit but have not claimed it are not available below the level of Great Britain.
	The latest estimates of the take-up rates and the number of those entitled but not receiving pension credit are published in the report 'Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up in 2007-08'.

Pension Credit: Yorkshire and the Humber

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people resident in  (a) Cleethorpes constituency,  (b) North East Lincolnshire local authority area and  (c) North Lincolnshire local authority area are in receipt of pension credit; and what the average award was for such people in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Angela Eagle: The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			  As at May 2009  Households in receipt of pension credit  Average award (£) 
			 Cleethorpes constituency 5,070 47.61 
			 North East Lincolnshire local authority area 9,300 48.97 
			 North Lincolnshire local authority area 8,380 46.18 
			  Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of themselves and a partner.  Source: DWP Information Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent data.

Poverty: Children

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children were living in poverty in each local authority area in  (a) England,  (b) Scotland,  (c) Wales and  (d) Northern Ireland in (i) 1997 and (ii) the most recent period for which figures are available.

Helen Goodman: Estimates of poverty for children are published in the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series. These figures only allow a breakdown of the overall numbers in poverty at Government Office Region level. Therefore, information is not available for the local authority areas.
	However, a local child poverty indicator-including constituency level information-has been developed by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs to try and replicate this national measure as closely as possible. It captures the number and proportion of children in families in receipt of out of work benefits, or in receipt of tax credits where their reported income is less than 60 per cent of median income. Details can be found via the HMRC website:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/child_poverty.htm
	The Public Service Agreement to halve child poverty by 2010-11 as a step towards eradicating it by 2020 uses a headline indicator of the proportion of children in households with an income below 60 per cent of contemporary household median income before housing costs.
	The following table shows the three-year average volumes of children with incomes below 60 per cent. of contemporary median (before housing costs) between 1997-2000 and 2005-08.
	
		
			  Numbers of children living in households with less than 60 per cent of contemporary median income, by Government Office Region and Country, Before Housing Costs, 1997-98  to  1999-2000 - 200506  to 2007-08 
			  Government Office Regio n/ Country  1997-98 to 1999-2000  2005-06 to 2007-08 
			 England 2.8 2.4 
			 North East 0.2 0.1 
			 North West 0.5 0.4 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 0.4 0.3 
			 East Midlands 0.2 0.2 
			 West Midlands 0.3 0.3 
			 East of England 0.2 0.2 
			 London 0.4 0.4 
			 South East 0.3 0.3 
			 South West 0.2 0.2 
			 Scotland 0.3 0.2 
			 Wales 0.2 0.2 
			 Northern Ireland n/a 0.1 
			 n/a = Indicates figures are not available. Data for Northern Ireland is only available on the Family Resources Survey from 2002-03. 1. These statistics are based on Households Below Average Income, sourced from the Family Resources Survey, both of which are available in the Library. 2. Small changes should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 3. The reference period for Households Below Average Income figures are single financial years. Three sample years have been combined as regional single year estimates are subject to volatility. 4. The income measures used to derive the estimates shown employ the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions publication 'Households Below Average Income' series, which uses disposable household income, adjusted (or 'equivalised') for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. 5. For the Households Below Average Income series, incomes have been equivalised using Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) equivalisation factors. 6. Information for adults includes those above state pension age. 7. Numbers of children in low-income households have been rounded to the nearest 100,000 children.  Source:  Households Below Average Income, DWP

Winter Fuel Payments: Torbay

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of the number of households in Torbay constituency who will receive the  (a) £250 and  (b) £400 winter fuel payment in 2009-10;
	(2)  how many pensioners in Torbay constituency are in receipt of winter fuel allowance; and how much her Department paid to such pensioners in winter fuel allowance in 2009.

Angela Eagle: For winter 2008-09 (the last year for which information is available) 13,980 households received £250 and 5280 households received £400 in Torbay. We expect to have made a similar number of payments for winter 2009-10.
	For winter 2008-09, 29,950 individuals received the Winter Fuel Payment in Torbay at a cost of £6 million.
	 Notes:
	1. Payment figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	2. Expenditure figures are rounded to the nearest £0.1 million
	3. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.
	 Source:
	Information Directorate

Winter Fuel Payments: Yorkshire and the Humber

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners aged over  (a) 80 and  (b) 60 years have received winter fuel payments in (i) Cleethorpes constituency, (ii) North East Lincolnshire local authority area and (iii) North Lincolnshire local authority area in each year since 2007-08.

Angela Eagle: Information on winters 2007-08 and 2008-09 (the last year for which information is available) is in the following table.
	
		
			  Individual winter fuel payments 
			   Winter 2007-08  Winter 2008-09 
			   Aged 60-79  Aged 80 and over  Aged 60-79  Aged 80 and over 
			 Cleethorpes 17,820 3990 18,290 4130 
			 North East Lincolnshire 27,230 6390 27,670 6520 
			 North Lincolnshire 29,170 6560 30,000 6740 
			  Notes: 1. Payment figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.  Source: Information Directorate

PRIME MINISTER

Deputy Prime Minister

Nick Hurd: To ask the Prime Minister for what reasons he has not appointed a Deputy Prime Minister.

Gordon Brown: The responsibilities of Government are carried out by the Cabinet and Ministers.

Epilepsy: Drugs

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Prime Minister if he will take steps to inform the signatories to the e-petition to No. 10 Downing Street on the generic prescribing of anti-epilepsy drugs submitted on 1 October 2009, of the consultation on that matter which was recently opened by the Department of Health.

Gordon Brown: Yes. I refer the hon. Member to the response on the Number 10 website which can be found at
	http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page22367
	which gives details of the consultation.

Iraq Committee of Inquiry

Dai Davies: To ask the Prime Minister if he will release for publication the documents to which Lord Goldsmith made specific reference during his appearance at the Chilcot Inquiry on 27 January 2010 and which he stated he would wish were made public.

Gordon Brown: Decisions on declassification are made in line with the protocol agreed between the Government and the inquiry. I have no role in the declassification process.

Northern Ireland

Kate Hoey: To ask the Prime Minister how many hours he has spent in Northern Ireland on official visits between the date of his appointment and 26 January 2010.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to my written ministerial statement of 16 July 2009,  Official Report, column 76WS. A list of my UK visits for 2009-10 will be published in the usual way.

Parliamentary Private Secretaries

Nick Hurd: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 14 December 2009,  Official Report, column 711W, on parliamentary private secretaries, which parliamentary private secretary posts are  (a) filled and  (b) vacant;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 14 December 2009,  Official Report, column 711W, on parliamentary private secretaries, on what date the list of parliamentary private secretaries was most recently provided to Dods for inclusion in Vacher's Quarterly; and if he will place in the Library a copy of this list.

Gordon Brown: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave on 14 December 2009,  Official Report, column 711W.

West Wing Writers

Nick Hurd: To ask the Prime Minister with reference to the registration statement made to the United States Department of Justice under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act 1938, registration number 5838, what expenditure his Office has incurred on procuring services from West Wing Writers to date since he took up his Office; and on what dates and for what purposes such payments were made.

Gordon Brown: All expenditure is accounted for in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Antisocial Behaviour: Greater London

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 25 January 2010,  Official Report, column 429W, on antisocial behaviour: Greater London, which areas in Greater London have been designated priority areas for combating antisocial behaviour.

Alan Johnson: Designated priority areas for combating antisocial behaviour in Greater London are:
	Barking and Dagenham
	Bexley
	Brent
	Camden
	Ealing
	Enfield
	Greenwich
	Hackney
	Hammersmith and Fulham
	Haringey
	Hillingdon
	Hounslow
	Islington
	Lambeth
	Newham
	Redbridge
	Southwark
	Tower Hamlets
	Waltham Forest.

Asylum

David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will give interim permission to work to asylum applicant Mr. Joseph Bashir Yousif Bunni (HO Ref: B1135644);
	(2)  when he expects the UK Border Agency to decide on the application for asylum in respect of Mr. Joseph Bashir Yousif Bunni.

Alan Johnson: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 8 January 2010.

Asylum

David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the UK Border Agency to decide on the application for asylum in respect of Ms Rachel Muadi Kumba (HO Ref: K1209955).

Alan Johnson: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 7 January 2010.

Asylum

David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the UK Border Agency to decide on the application for asylum in respect of Ms Sara Kidane (HO Ref: K1203107).

Alan Johnson: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 8 January 2010.

Asylum: Children

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unaccompanied minors have arrived in the country seeking asylum in each year since 1999; and how many of them were granted asylum.

Phil Woolas: The table shows the number of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) applications, initial decisions and grants of asylum, Exceptional Leave to Remain (ELR), Humanitarian Protection (HP) and Discretionary Leave (DL) between 1999 and September 2009. Statistics on UASC asylum decisions and outcomes until 2002 are not available. Figures only include initial decisions on UASC asylum applications and not any later asylum decisions (e.g. after appeal).
	Information on asylum applications is published annually in the Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom bulletin which is available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html
	
		
			  Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children application s( 1, 2, 3 ) received in the United Kingdom, excluding dependants, and initial decisions( 4)  on applications by year, all nationals 
			   Applications  Total decisions( 4)  Grants of asylum  Grants of ELR( 5)  Grants of HP( 5)  Grants of DL( 5) 
			   Total  Port  In-country  Number  Total granted  Total ELR  Total HP  Total DL 
			 1999 3,350 1,500 1,850 (6)- (6)- (6)- (7)- (7)- 
			 2000 2,735 1,395 1,340 (6)- (6)- (6)- (7)- (7)- 
			 2001 3,470 1,645 1,820 (6)- (6)- (6)- (7)- (7)- 
			 2002 6,200 1,240 4,955 6,990 585 4,830 (7)- (7)- 
			 2003 3,180 645 2,535 3,835 150 1,255 15 1,525 
			 2004 2,990 540 2,455 3,440 85 (7)- 20 2,505 
			 2005 2,965 445 2,520 2,835 150 (7)- 20 1,965 
			 2006 3,450 395 3,055 2,880 195 (7)- 10 1,960 
			 2007 3,645 480 3,165 3,385 445 (7)- 15 1,780 
			 2008(8) 4,285 380 3,905 3,375 335 (7)- 15 1,795 
			 January-September 2009(8) 2,400 200 2,200 2,645 265 (7)- 15 1,490 
			 (1) Figures are rounded to the nearest five and may not sum to the totals shown because of independent rounding. (2) Figures exclude cases where the age of the applicant is disputed. (3 )An Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Child (UASC) is a person under 18, or who, in the absence of documentary evidence establishing age, appears to be under that age; is applying for asylum in his or her own right and; is separated from both parents and is not being cared for by an adult who by law or custom has responsibility to do so. (4) The year of asylum application may not be the same as the year of initial asylum decision. (5) Humanitarian Protection (HP) and Discretionary Leave (DL) replaced Exceptional Leave to Remain (ELR) from 1 April 2003. (6) Not available. (7) Not applicable. (8) Provisional figures.

Borders: Personal Records

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department plans to introduce passenger name record checks on all passenger movements  (a) into,  (b) through and  (c) out of the UK.

Phil Woolas: Passenger name record data (PNR) will be collected on a phased, intelligence-based approach over five years. It is expected that a maximum of 100 million passenger movements will have been collected by the end of December 2013. This equates to approximately 40 per cent. of all passenger and crew movements into, through and out of the UK. The selection of routes required to provide PNR will be based according to risk.

Borders: Personal Records

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the e-borders programme to include an automated authority to carry capability.

Phil Woolas: An automated authority to carry (ATC) capability is not included in the e-Borders contract. UK Border Agency (UKBA) has the option to include this capability at a later stage, but this will need to be funded separately.
	As part of the wider rollout of e-Borders in 2011, a capability to support a manual ATC process will be delivered.

Borders: Personal Records

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of progress in the manual trial period for authority to carry capabilities as part of the e-borders programme.

Phil Woolas: The UK Border Agency has completed a proof of concept trial of a manual authority to carry scheme. We are currently evaluating this data in the context of the Prime Minister's recent statement on security and border protection, to examine the broader options for preventing people from travelling to the United Kingdom.

Case Resolution Directorate

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases were resolved by the Case Resolution Directorate in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Phil Woolas: The UK Border Agency has made good progress in concluding the estimated 400,000 to 450,000 electronic and paper records in the asylum backlog and remains on track to conclude these cases by summer 2011. The total conclusions now stand at over 220,000 cases concluded to end of September 2009. Lin Homer will update the Home Affairs Select Committee on performance up to December 2009 next month.

Crime

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 25 January 2010,  Official Report, column 637W, on crime, which universities received such expenditure; and what crime awareness campaigns were undertaken in each case.

Alan Johnson: In 2005-06 the Home Office ran a marketing campaign called 'Let's Keep Crime Down'. An element of this campaign targeted students. Digital advertising space was purchased to targeted student bars and libraries. Advertising was centred on Leeds, London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Nottingham, Bristol, Bolton and Newcastle.
	In 2009-10 Home Office gave a grant to the National Union of Students (NUS) as part of the Securing Homes: Action Against Burglary programme. £78,905.50 has been allocated for NUS to deliver communications activity. The communications work is varied and does not come under a single branded campaign. NUS have distributed a Home Office leaflet called 'The Student Survival Guide' that provides crime reduction and personal safety information and a 'Let' Keep Crime Down' branded 'doorhanger' to 119 students unions across England and Wales and have launched a crime reduction website:
	www.nus.org.uk/thelock
	In both 2005-06 and 2009-10, Home Office has not given individual universities money to deliver crime awareness campaigns.

Departmental Font Licensing

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department and its agencies have spent on font licensing in the last three years.

Phil Woolas: From the best available information the Home Department inclusive of its agencies have not incurred any costs on font licensing in the last three years.

Departmental Housing

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of the  (a) potential annual rental and  (b) total book value of the residential property owned by his Department.

Phil Woolas: My Department currently owns one residential property which is in the process of being sold. Accordingly no estimates have been made of potential rental amounts and the property has an indicated guide sale price of £4 million.

Departmental Pay

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding his Department has allocated for  (a) year-end and  (b) in-year bonuses for its staff in 2009-10.

Phil Woolas: An element of the overall pay award for the Home Office is allocated to non-consolidated variable pay related to performance. These payments are used to drive high performance and form part of the pay award for members of staff who demonstrate exceptional performance, for example by exceeding targets set of meeting challenging objectives.
	Non-consolidated variable pay awards are funded from within existing pay bill controls and have to be re-earned each year against pre-determined targets and, as such, do not add to future pay bill and pension costs. The percentage of the pay bill set aside for performance-related awards for the Senior Civil Service is based on the recommendations of the independent Senior Salaries Review Body.
	Non-consolidated end-of-year performance payments made in the 2009-10 financial year (in relation to the 2008-09 performance year) amounted to £5.69 million, (0.69 per cent. of the estimated total salary provision for the 2009-10 year). Up to 0.3 per cent. of the pay bill for the current year is allocated for the purpose of non-consolidated special payments to reward exceptional in-year performance.

Departmental Public Consultation

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2010,  Official Report, column 261W, on departmental public consultation, how much was spent by his Department under each budgetary headline on the burglary summit on 4 February 2009.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office burglary summit was held on 4 February 2009 at the Home Office headquarters in 2 Marsham Street London. The summit was attended by 40 voluntary, private and public sector representatives. The only costs incurred were for hospitality (refreshments). The total amount spent on hospitality was £203.60
	The summit resulted in the launch of the Securing Homes programme two months later under which the Government have invested £20 million in further preventing and tackling burglary.

Departmental Public Expenditure

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department spent on  (a) new furnishings,  (b) works of art and  (c) new vehicles in each of the last three years.

Phil Woolas: The information requested is as follows:
	  (a) Figures for the purchase of furniture and fittings are 2006-07 (£4.358 million), 2007-2008 (£2.267 million) and 2008-09 (£5.956 million).
	  (b) There has been no expenditure on works of art installed by the department at its HQ at 2 Marsham Street over the last three years, other than the cost of maintaining Public Art at 2 Marsham Street which is met by the PFI supplier. Information on any possible expenditure on art elsewhere is not held centrally.
	  (c) The Department including UK Border Agency spent the following on the purchase of new vehicles in the last three years: 2006-07 £771,660, 2007-08 £785,207 and 2008-09, £230,893 exclusive of post purchase operational equipment provided in the vehicles.

Deportation: Offenders

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people serving prison sentences in England are liable for deportation on their release; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: As at 18 December 2009, Her Majesty's Prison Service published the foreign national prison population as 11,546. This includes those on remand, those serving a custodial sentence (time serving) and those time-served held under the Immigration Act 1971, including those in the immigration removal centres Dover, Haslar and Lindholme, who we are seeking to deport.
	There was a monthly average in 2009 of 550 time-served foreign national offenders detained in prisons who the UK Border Agency was seeking to deport.
	Those serving prison sentences will at some point during their sentence be considered for deportation against the following criteria:
	A court recommendation;
	For non-European Economic Area nationals-A custodial sentence of 12 months or more either in one sentence, or as an aggregate of two or three sentences over a period of five years or a custodial sentence of any length for a drug offence (an offence other than possession only);
	For EEA nationals: a custodial sentence of 12 months or more for an offence involving drugs, violent or sexual crimes or a custodial sentence of 24 months or more for other offences.

Detention Centres: Mobile Telephones

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) mobile telephones and  (b) SIM cards were confiscated from persons held in immigration detention centres in each of the last five years.

Phil Woolas: Detainees are permitted to retain their own mobile telephone while in the UK Border Agency's detention estate with the exception of those with a camera, recording facility or provide access to the internet; such phones are placed into the detainee's property store and returned upon discharge.
	Mobile phones and SIM cards may be removed from detainees for security reasons if a detainee has been removed from association in accordance with Rule 40 and Rule 42 of the Detention Centre Rules 2001. The phone is returned to the detainee when he or she is returned to the rest of the population.
	We do not keep a central record of phones confiscated from detainees.

Detention Centres: Mobile Telephones

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) mobile telephones and  (b) SIM cards have been issued to immigration detainees in each of the last five years.

Phil Woolas: We do not keep a central record of mobile telephones borrowed or purchased by detainees held in immigration removal centres.

DNA: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which organisation is responsible for the implementation of his Department's DNA isotope testing regime.

Phil Woolas: The Forensic Science Service and the university of Reading are carrying out the analysis of the DNA and isotope samples taken by the UK Border Agency.

Entry Clearances

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many decisions on visa applications made at each British embassy or consulate were overturned by immigration judges in each of the last three years.

Phil Woolas: I have placed tables in the Library giving the requested information. Immigration statistics for October-December 2009 will be published on 25 February.
	UKBA monitors closely the reasons why appeals were overturned and uses the information to improve decision making quality.

Entry Clearances

Patrick Hall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visas were issued more than six months following a successful appeal against a refusal to issue entry clearance in 2009.

Phil Woolas: The information requested is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of students studying at colleges which have received and subsequently lost accreditation as a bona fide institution offering courses for overseas students.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 3 February 2010
	145 international students were granted entry clearance or given leave to remain in the United Kingdom under tier 4 of the points based system, to study at a private college which has since lost its accreditation.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provision his Department makes for students studying at colleges which lose accreditation as a bona fide institution offering courses for overseas students to enable them to continue their studies.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 3 February 2010
	Students studying under tier 4 of the points based system are given 60 days in which to find the same or similar course with a different sponsor and make a new application for leave to remain in the United Kingdom to the UK Border Agency.

Human Trafficking

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Totnes of 30 November 2009,  Official Report, column 486W, on human trafficking, how many cases the 180 specialists with the UK Border Agency dealt with in the last 12 months; and what average amount of time was spent on each case.

Phil Woolas: In the first nine months since a National Referral Mechanism for identifying and protecting trafficking victims was established in April 2009, 405 cases have been referred to specialist decision-makers in UKBA competent authorities, either directly or through the UK Human Trafficking Centre.
	Each case is unique and a case owner will devote as much time as is needed to reach an informed decision, including by consulting with other relevant agencies such as the police, children's services and support providers. In some instances, competent authorities may also need to conduct or commission a further interview to gather more evidence. The timing will vary greatly depending on whether the initial 'reasonable grounds' decision is positive, how complex the case is, the ability of the potential victim to provide information and how prompt other parties are in responding to queries for more information or reports. But it would not be unusual for a competent authority to spend two to four days in total on a given case.

Immigrants: Somalia

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Somali nationals are estimated to be in the UK illegally.

Phil Woolas: The information requested is not available. By its very nature, illegal immigration is exceptionally difficult to quantify and no Government have previously been able to produce a definitive figure for the number of people who are in the country illegally, including Somali nationals.
	We are continuing to strengthen UK Border Controls. The e-Borders system screens passenger information against watch lists to identify high risk individuals before they travel and will also enable us to count people in and out of the country. The system will screen 95 per cent. of all passenger and crew movements in and out of the UK by December 2010 and 100 per cent. by March 2014.
	Local immigration teams are being established to serve every community in the UK. Each team will work closely with police, local authorities and many other local partners to target immigration crime, including working to detect and remove those who are in the UK illegally.

Immigrants: Somalia

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Somali nationals have arrived in the UK in each year since 1998.

Phil Woolas: The latest available statistics relate to the number of Somali nationals given leave to enter the United Kingdom, 1998 to 2008, and are given in the following table. Data for 2009 are scheduled for publication in August 2010.
	The statistics are based on landing card information and may include the same individuals more than once if they visited the United Kingdom on multiple occasions in the period.
	Statistics on passengers given leave to enter the United Kingdom by country of nationality and purpose of journey are published annually in the series Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom. These publications are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html
	
		
			  Somali nationals given leave to enter the United Kingdom, 1998  to  2008 
			   Number of journeys 
			  Passengers admitted  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006( 1)  2007( 2,)(  3)  2008( 2,)(  4) 
			 Somalia 4,900 3,680 8,160 9,430 10,200 7,460 5,330 5,610 3,540 3,240 3,000 
			 (1) Due to some gaps in the data from ports, estimates have been used. (2) May understate due to some administrative records on non-EEA nationals being unavailable for statistical analysis. The Border Control Chapter Notes in the Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2008 gives further details. (3) Revised (4) Provisional  Note: Data rounded to three significant figures.

Immigration Controls

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many employers have  (a) requested and  (b) been granted certificates of sponsorship under the Tier 2 (i) general and (ii) intracompany transfer categories in each month since October 2009.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 21 January 2010
	 The tables show how many sponsors have  (a) requested and  (b) been granted certificates of sponsorship under tier 2 general and tier 2 intra-company transfer categories of the points-based immigration system in each month since October 2009.
	
		
			  Number of sponsors requested certificates of sponsorship under tier 2 
			   Migrant classification 
			   General  Intra-company transfer 
			 October 2009 1,550 595 
			 November 2009 1,485 585 
			 December 2009 1,435 580 
			 Total 4,470 1,760 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of sponsors  granted  certificates of sponsorship under tier 2 
			   Migrant classification 
			   General  Intra-company transfer 
			 October 2009 1,315 560 
			 November 2009 1,280 545 
			 December 2009 1,355 545 
			 Total 3,950 1,650 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to nearest five. 2. The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.

Immigration Controls

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Tier 2  (a) general and  (b) ICT certificates of sponsorship had (i) been requested, (ii) been allocated and (iii) were pending in each month since October 2009.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 21 January 2010
	The following tables shows how many certificates of sponsorship, under tier 2 general and tier 2 intra-company transfer categories of the Points-based Immigration system have been (a) requested, (b) allocated and (c) were pending in each month since October 2009.
	
		
			  Certificates of sponsorship requested-Tier 2 
			  Migrant c lassification  October 2009  November 2009  December 2009  Total 
			 General 2,975 2,820 2,710 8,505 
			 Intra company transfer 2,885 2,985 3,270 9,140 
		
	
	
		
			  Certificates of sponsorship allocated-Tier 2 
			  Migrant  c lassification  October 2009  November 2009  December 2009  Total 
			 General 2,385 2,200 2,380 6,965 
			 Intra company transfer 2,580 2,550 2,555 7,680 
		
	
	
		
			  Certificates of sponsorship pending-Tier 2 
			  Migrant classification  October 2009  November 2009  December 2009  Total 
			 General 985 955 790 2,735 
			 Intra company transfer 1,070 910 865 2,845 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to nearest 5. 2. The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.

Immigration: Children

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the UK Border Agency keeps records of the number of unaccompanied minors arriving in the UK.

Phil Woolas: The UK Border Agency does not keep records of all unaccompanied children who arrive in the UK.
	Border force officers remain vigilant in identifying any arriving child who may be at risk of harm. When an unaccompanied child arrives, the border force officer must be satisfied that suitable arrangements have been made for the child's reception and welfare in the UK before allowing them entry. The UK Border Agency works closely with the police and children's services and will if appropriate alert them to any concerns.

Immigration: Children

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department has taken to identify unaccompanied minors who are suspected of being trafficked.

Phil Woolas: The Government's response to human trafficking is set out in their comprehensive 2007 Action Plan, which was updated in October 2009 and contains a number of specific measures to identify and protect child victims, including training for front line staff.
	In December 2007 the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Home Office published practice guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children Who May Have Been Trafficked to help practitioners safeguard and promote the welfare of children who may have been trafficked. We also established with the NSPCC, a national Child Trafficking Advice and Information Line in October 2007 to support practitioners with advice on safeguarding vulnerable children believed to have been trafficked.
	As part of our improved services for trafficked children under the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings, we have introduced a National Referral Mechanism, which provides enhanced procedures for local agencies to identify, refer and support all victims of trafficking early on, including children. Alongside NRM, we are piloting a child trafficking assessment tool in 13 local authority areas, to trial a process for local practitioners to assess cases of separated children who may be trafficking victims and to take initial safeguarding action and make a referral to a Competent Authority under the NRM.
	From 2 November 2009, Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act (2009) placed a new duty on UKBA to safeguard children subject to immigration controls, including trafficked children and those seeking asylum. All UK Border Agency staff at operational and case working grades are required to complete training on how to identify potential victims of trafficking, which contains specific sections on the features of child trafficking.
	Updated multi agency guidance was issued on 10 June 2009 and 1 July 2009 on children at risk of sexual exploitation and those who go missing from care both of which highlight how trafficked children may be identified and protected from harm. We have incorporated child trafficking into the cross Government Staying Safe Action Plan and established trafficking sub groups at local and regional levels.

Immigration: ICT

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department has spent on the Integrated Case Work IT system (Integrity) to date; and what the overall budget for the project is.

Phil Woolas: Spend to date for the whole programme, from inception in 2007 up to 31 December 2009, is £71.7 million.
	The total estimated cost of delivering the Immigration Case Work programme is £370 million over the period 2008-09 to 2015-16.

Immigration: ICT

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the Integrated Case Work IT system (Integrity) to be fully operational.

Phil Woolas: Implementation has commenced with three on-time releases during 2009. The target date to complete all functional components of INTEGRITY is the end of 2013, with full deployment and realisation of benefits expected by 2015.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  when he expects to reply to the letter dated 15 October 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs Saima Noreen Rashid;
	(2)  when he plans to reply to the letter to him dated 15 October 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mrs Saima Noreen Rashid;
	(3)  when he plans to reply to the letter of 15 October 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs Saima Noreen Rashid.

Alan Johnson: Due to an administrative error the UK Border Agency did not receive my right hon. Friend's letter until December 2009. I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 26 January 2010.

Members: Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to the letter dated 7 December 2009 from the hon. Member for Walsall North regarding a constituent Ref: S1410402/K1287157.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 28 January 2010
	The chief executive of the UK Border Agency wrote on 27 January 2010.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to reply to the letter of 30 November 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Zaheer Iqbal.

Alan Johnson: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 1 February 2010.

Opinion Polls

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department has spent on opinion polling in 2009-10.

Phil Woolas: During the financial year 2009-10 the Home Office expenditure on opinion polling has been £240,816.

Prisoners: Foreigners

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national prisoners were transferred from immigration removal centres to open prisons in each of the last three years; and what the criteria for transferral are.

Phil Woolas: Detainees being held in the UK Border Agency's detention estate would only be transferred to a prison where their behaviour threatens the security or safety of an immigration removal centre. Such detainees are transferred to closed, not open prisons.

Rape: Victim Support Schemes

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent on services of each type for rape victims in each year since 1997.

Alan Johnson: Although the bulk of funding for local services comes from local sources the Home Office and other Government Departments including Ministry of Justice and Government Equalities Office do provide some grant funding to help meet the costs of providing services to sexual assault victims.
	Based on the best available information, the approximated total of grants awarded:
	 Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) funding
	2004-05-Home Office SARC Funding £310,000
	2005-06-Home Office SARC Funding £709,000
	2006-07-Home Office SARC Funding £620,000
	2007-08-Home Office SARC Funding £805,000
	2008-09-Home Office SARC Funding £663,000
	2009-10-Home Office SARC Funding £1,500,000
	 Victim's Fund-grants to local sexual assault services (administered by MoJ)
	2005-06-£1,458,718
	2006-07-£1,300,600
	2007-08-£1,249,644
	2008-09-£1,249,644
	2009-10-£1,250,000
	 Special Fund for local sexual assault services (administered by GEO)
	2008-09-£1,000,000
	2009-10-£1,600,000
	 Home Office funding for Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs)
	2006-07-£760,000
	2007-08-£720,000
	2008-09-£720,000
	2009-10-£860,000
	 Home Office funding for Rape Crisis national head office
	2008-09-£75,000
	2009-10-£75,000
	 Home Office funding for Survivors Trust head office
	2008-09-£75,000
	2009-10-£75,000
	On 27 January the Government announced the following funding for 2010-11:
	 Home Office ISVA Funding
	2010-11-£860,000
	 Funding for local sexual assault services
	2010-11-£2,250,000
	The VAWG strategy also announced a Government commitment to provide £3.2 million of funding for SARCs for 2010-11-further details will be announced shortly.

Reoffenders: Greater London

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been re-arrested whilst released on bail for committing  (a) a sexual offence,  (b) an offence of violence against the person and (c) homicide in Greater London in each year since 1998.

Alan Johnson: The arrests data reported to the Home Office does not include information on the individual circumstances of arrests, including whether or not the person arrested was on bail at the time of the arrest.

Snow and Ice

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the costs to his Department arising from the severe weather conditions in the period 4 January to 18 January 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: In common with many other employers the Home Office recognised that the severe weather conditions during the period 4-18 January caused difficulty for many staff travelling to and from work.
	Where staff experienced travel delays or were unable to get to work, line managers were reminded that they could use their discretion as to whether credit time should be given or whether annual leave, special leave or flexi-time should be used. The appropriate arrangements for individual staff were dependent upon local travel conditions, the availability of public transport and the length and difficulty of the journey into work. Many staff were also able to work from home thus reducing the amount of working time lost.
	This guidance reflected existing departmental arrangements on travel disruptions set out in the staff handbook.
	Records of the number of staff who were not able to attend work between 4-18 January as a result of the disruption to the transport system were not collated centrally and could therefore only be obtained at disproportionate cost. For the same reason it is not possible to provide an estimate of the cost to the Department or the total number of working hours that were lost.

Terrorism: Finance

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been convicted under counter-terrorism legislation of an offence relating to fundraising in each of the last five years.

Alan Johnson: Figures on the number of people convicted under the Terrorism Act 2000 for fundraising offences are available in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin 18/09-Operation of Police Powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent legislation; arrests, outcomes and stops and searches 2008/2009. Page 26, Table 1.10 (a) refers. This is available on the Home Office website via the following link:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/hosb1809.pdf
	From September 2001 to 2009, a total of 11 people were convicted under section 15 to 19 TACT 2000 offences. The following table contains the relevant figures. No figures are available prior to this date.
	
		
			   Numbers of individuals convi cted of sections 15-19 TACT 2000- -fundraising offences 
			 2001-02 2 
			 2002-03 0 
			 2003-04 0 
			 2004-05 0 
			 2005-06 4 
			 2006-07 1 
			 2007-08 3 
			 2008-09 1

Terrorism: Internet

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were convicted of  (a) each category of terrorism offence and  (b) terrorism offences involving the internet in each year since 1998.

Alan Johnson: The information requested is as follows.
	 (a) Figures on the number of people convicted under each category of terrorism offence from September 2001 to 2009 are available in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin 18/09-Operational of Police Powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 and Subsequent Legislation; Arrests, Outcomes and Stops and Searches 2008-09. This is available on the Home Office website via the following link:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/hosb1809.pdf
	The information includes those convicted of offences under terrorism legislation as well as under non-terrorism legislation for terrorist-related offences. Tables 1.10 (a) and 1.10 (b) illustrate the principal offences of which suspects were convicted.
	(b) Information on the number of individuals convicted of terrorism offences involving the internet from 1998 is not available. Offences relating to the dissemination of terrorist material and the glorification of terrorist acts on the internet were introduced under the Terrorism Act 2006 Part one, sections 1 and 2.
	Statistics preceding the Terrorism Act 2000, covering the period up to February 2001 are available in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin 16/01. This is available on the Home Office website via the following link:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/hosb1601.pdf
	This includes offences under the previous terrorist legislation, The Prevention of Terrorism Acts 1984 and 1989.

UK Border Agency: Contracts

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many contracts with a monetary value of over £2 million the UK Border Agency and its predecessors have signed in each of the last five years.

Phil Woolas: The number of contracts let with a monetary value of over £2 million in each of the last five years is as follows:
	
		
			  Total number of contracts over £2 million let by UKBA for the year 
			   Number 
			 2009 13 
			 2008 15 
			 2007 13 
			 2006 41 
			 2005 3

UK Border Agency: Travel

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the UK Border Agency spent on first class travel in each year since 2005.

Phil Woolas: The amount spent on first class rail travel during the calendar year 2009 was £1,013,841. The amount spent on first class air travel during the calendar year was £10,936. Figures over a longer period are not available as the UK Border Agency changed the contractor through whom travel is booked in December 2008. To seek data from the previous contractor would incur a disproportionate cost.
	Because the UK Border Agency's work is national and indeed international in scope, it is necessary in some cases for staff to travel in order to facilitate that work. All travel is undertaken in accordance with the civil service management and ministerial codes which include limited circumstances in which first class travel will be permitted.
	The UK Border Agency is focused on driving down the cost of travel expenditure. In addition the Home Office has a travel contract that enables significant savings to be achieved compared with the standard price of UK rail travel.

Workers Registration Scheme: North East

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many EU workers were registered in the Worker Registration scheme in each local authority in the North East in  (a) March 2007,  (b) March 2008,  (c) March 2009 and  (d) the latest period for which figures are available.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 29 January 2010
	The data requested is published on the local government website:
	www.lga.gov.uk
	on the current following page:
	www.lga.gov.uk/lga/core/page.do?pageld=1095225
	Officers within the House Library have direct access to the electronic documents via the local government analysis and research website.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Anne Street Partners

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether any action has been taken against Anne Street Partners Limited and its directors in respect of the accounts it has filed for the period to 30 September 2008.

Ian Lucas: No action has been taken against Anne Street Partners Limited or its directors in relation to its accounts for the period to 30 September 2008.
	The accounts the company filed on 30 July 2009 are abbreviated accounts, which have been accepted by Companies House as complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 1985. If any person believes the accounts are deficient they may write to Mr. Mark Youde, Companies House, Crown Way, Cardiff, CF14 3UZ; e-mail address:
	myoude@companieshouse.gov.uk
	with further details and he will investigate the matter.

Astraporta

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether Astraporta (UK) Limited filed its accounts for the period to 30 September 2008 within the statutory period provided for in the Companies Act 2006.

Ian Lucas: Astraporta (UK) Limited has not filed its accounts for 30 September 2008. The company went into Liquidation in March 2009 and it was not required to file accounts from that point on. The company came out of Liquidation in November 2009 and is due to be struck off on 1 March 2010.

Bearwood Holdings

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether Bearwood Holdings Limited filed its accounts for the period to 30 September 2008 within the statutory period provided for in the Companies Act 2006.

Ian Lucas: Bearwood Holdings Limited has not filed its accounts for 30 November 2008. The company went into Liquidation in March 2009 and it was not required to file accounts from that point on. The company came out of Liquidation in November 2009 and is due to be struck off on 1 March 2010.

Business: Government Assistance

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many small businesses in each constituency in the South West have applied for financial assistance under the  (a) Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme and  (b) Capital Enterprise Scheme since its inception; and how many such applications were granted.

Rosie Winterton: Under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee, as of 27 January, 744 businesses in the South West region have drawn down loans totalling £66.38 million. The figures for each individual constituency in the South West region will be deposited in the Library of the House. Businesses may apply for a loan from any one of the participating lenders who will assess which form of lending, including the Enterprise Finance Guarantee, is most appropriate. We do not hold figures for those businesses which are instead offered a normal commercial loan, or are rejected for failing to meet the lender's commercial criteria.
	With respect to the Capital for Enterprise Fund equity scheme, CfEF received 77 enquiries from businesses in the South West seeking investment to the value of £84.3 million. Thus far, no businesses have received investment, two businesses have agreed terms on investments with a value £4 million, one business has been offered investment totalling £2 million and one proposition is under active consideration with a value of £1.3 million. The remaining inquiries are either being considered subject to further information to be supplied by the applicant or have been rejected or withdrawn. I am not providing a breakdown by parliamentary constituency or local authority as this could make it possible to identify the individual companies that have received support.
	
		
			  Offered: South West, offered 27 January 2010 
			  Constituency name  Count of loan amount  Sum of loan amount (£ million) 
			 Bath 24 1.20 
			 Bournemouth East 12 1.07 
			 Bournemouth West 20 2.50 
			 Bridgwater 11 0.85 
			 Bristol East 21 2.76 
			 Bristol North West 10 0.71 
			 Bristol South 6 0.45 
			 Bristol West 30 5.02 
			 Cheltenham 21 1.99 
			 Christchurch 15 1.55 
			 Cotswold 16 0.82 
			 Devizes 20 1.22 
			 East Devon 6 0.37 
			 Exeter 24 2.46 
			 Falmouth and Camborne 11 0.85 
			 Forest of Dean 9 0.87 
			 Gloucester 13 0.75 
			 Kingswood 19 1.88 
			 Mid Dorset and North Poole 10 0.58 
			 North Cornwall 31 1.93 
			 North Devon 17 1.61 
			 North Dorset 11 1.02 
			 North Swindon 11 2.02 
			 North Wiltshire 13 1.48 
			 Northavon 19 1.48 
			 Plymouth, Devonport 13 1.65 
			 Plymouth, Sutton 29 1.77 
			 Poole 15 1.57 
			 Salisbury 12 1.01 
			 Somerton and Frome 19 0.90 
			 South Dorset 12 0.64 
			 South East Cornwall 15 2.43 
			 South Swindon 19 3.54 
			 South West Devon 25 3.48 
			 St. Ives 12 0.37 
			 Stroud 21 1.24 
			 Taunton 16 1.27 
			 Teignbridge 6 0.21 
			 Tewkesbury 26 2.69 
			 Tiverton and Honiton 25 2.58 
			 Torbay 13 0.80 
			 Torridge and West Devon 25 1.98 
			 Totnes 19 2.05 
			 Truro and St. Austell 24 1.93 
			 Wansdyke 24 1.17 
			 Wells 26 3.74 
			 West Dorset 22 1.69 
			 Westbury 27 1.54 
			 Weston-Super-Mare 12 1.00 
			 Woodspring 9 0.70 
			 Yeovil 8 0.44 
			 Grand total 874 79.81 
		
	
	
		
			  Drawn: South West, guaranteed 27 January 2010 
			  Constituency name  Count of loan amount  Sum of loan amount (£ million) 
			 Bath 20 0.87 
			 Bournemouth East 11 0.95 
			 Bournemouth West 14 2.05 
			 Bridgwater 8 0.71 
			 Bristol East 18 2.24 
			 Bristol North West 9 0.64 
			 Bristol South 6 0.45 
			 Bristol West 26 3.42 
			 Cheltenham 21 1.99 
			 Christchurch 13 1.43 
			 Cotswold 13 0.66 
			 Devizes 18 1.05 
			 East Devon 6 0.37 
			 Exeter 20 2.32 
			 Falmouth and Camborne 9 0.78 
			 Forest of Dean 7 0.48 
			 Gloucester 12 0.74 
			 Kingswood 18 1.85 
			 Mid Dorset and North Poole 9 0.55 
			 North Cornwall 28 1.71 
			 North Devon 16 1.37 
			 North Dorset 9 0.66 
			 North Swindon 6 1.76 
			 North Wiltshire 12 1.47 
			 Northavon 16 1.30 
			 Plymouth, Devonport 11 1.60 
			 Plymouth, Sutton 26 1.55 
			 Poole 12 1.21 
			 Salisbury 12 1.01 
			 Somerton and Frome 16 0.77 
			 South Dorset 9 0.48 
			 South East Cornwall 14 2.14 
			 South Swindon 12 2.09 
			 South West Devon 23 3.24 
			 St. Ives 12 0.37 
			 Stroud 19 1.16 
			 Taunton 15 1.21 
			 Teignbridge 5 0.16 
			 Tewkesbury 20 1.37 
			 Tiverton and Honiton 25 2.58 
			 Torbay 10 0.60 
			 Torridge and West Devon 18 1.60 
			 Totnes 16 1.96 
			 Truro and St. Austell 21 1.37 
			 Wansdyke 18 0.81 
			 Wells 22 3.23 
			 West Dorset 20 1.61 
			 Westbury 21 1.00 
			 Weston-Super-Mare 8 0.70 
			 Woodspring 8 0.37 
			 Yeovil 6 0.37 
			 Grand total 744 66.38

Business: Wales

Don Touhig: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to promote small business start-up schemes among young people in Wales.

Rosie Winterton: The promotion of small business start-up schemes is a devolved matter and as such is the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly Government.

Business: Young People

David Drew: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assistance his Department provides to young people to obtain support from small business start-up schemes in Stroud constituency.

Rosie Winterton: Young people in Stroud are able to benefit from a range of core services (see following list) provided by Business Link in the south-west. Support provided will depend on the needs of the individual and will follow the core Business Link IDB (Information, Diagnosis and Brokerage) Model.
	Examples of the type of support available are:
	The gateway-a helpline staffed by trained and accredited staff is the first point of contact for all business support inquiries.
	Regional website-providing a wide range of support on all business topics.
	E-alerts and E-newsletters-the monthly Business-I provides subscribers with information on relevant issues and updates, e.g. changes to legislation.
	One to one advice-provided by a trained and accredited expert adviser who will review the a range of business topics resulting in an agreed business action plan.
	Events-in addition to one to one advice, Business Links run advice workshops and seminars on specific or common areas of support, for example Start up Awareness courses or Business Finance and Financial awareness courses.

Counterfeit Manufacturing: International Cooperation

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 20 January 2010,  Official Report, column 402W, on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, what further steps he plans to take to increase transparency in the negotiating process of the agreement.

David Lammy: I have instructed my officials to take every opportunity to press for more transparency in the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement negotiations. They have consistently argued for more transparency in the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement negotiations. The issue was raised again during the EU co-ordination meetings and in several bilateral discussions at the talks in Mexico during 26-291 January. As a result of our calls, and those of like-minded countries, the negotiating parties have agreed to update the summary of the key elements being discussed. A joint statement issued after the Mexico round, which mentions transparency, can be found on the Intellectual Property Office website.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Jim Cousins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many students received non-repayable maintenance grants from  (a) each education authority in the county of Tyne and Wear and  (b) English local education authorities in each of the last five years; and what the average grant received by such students was in each case in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: The information requested is in the table.
	
		
			  Grants for maintenance-Tyne and Wear and England( 1) 
			  Academic year  Grant   Gateshead  Newcastle upon Tyne  North Tyneside  South Tyneside  Sunderland  England 
			 2004/05 HE Grant Students - - - n/a n/a 101,800 
			   Average (£) - - -   860 
			  
			 2005/06 HE Grant Students 710 1,050 640 580 1,100 195,900 
			   Average (£) 850 900 830 870 840 870 
			  
			 2006/07 Maintenance Grant(2) Students 640 940 610 420 1,010 166,200 
			   Average (£) 1,920 2,130 1,850 2,040 2,000 2,010 
			  HE Grant Students 540 820 500 450 680 154,700 
			   Average (£) 890 910 840 890 970 890 
			  
			 2007/08 Maintenance Grant(2) Students 1,120 1,690 1,090 760 1,740 301,400 
			   Average (£) 2,050 2,170 1,920 2,200 2,140 2,090 
			  HE Grant Students 300 490 270 260 510 93,800 
			   Average (£) 890 890 860 890 890 890 
			  
			 2008/09 Maintenance Grant (2) Students 1,640 2,520 1,700 1,110 2,740 466,100 
			   Average (£) 2,100 2,230 2,000 2,190 2,180 2,140 
			  HE Grant Students 100 140 80 80 160 29,600 
			   Average (£) 890 890 870 970 860 890 
			 n/a = not available (1) Applicants awarded a full or partial grant. England student numbers rounded to nearest 100, other figures rounded to nearest 10. Consistent 2004/05 figures not available at local authority level. (2) Maintenance Grant figures include Special Support Grant.  Source: Student Loans Company

Financial Services: Portsmouth

Mike Hancock: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what his most recent assessment is of the effect on the financial services industry in Portsmouth of the recession; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: At present data is only available for the period to the end of the 2008 calendar year. In 2008 there were some 2,400 people employed in this sector, which represented a 23 per cent. reduction on the 2007 figure.
	However, a comparison over this relatively short time period is unlikely to present a comprehensive picture. A clearer indication of the effect of the recession on the financial services sector in Portsmouth will emerge over time, as more information becomes available.

Higher Education: Free School Meals

Tim Loughton: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many and what percentage of pupils  (a) eligible and  (b) not eligible for free school meals progressed to (i) a university and (ii) a Russell Group university in (A) 1997 and (B) the most recent year for which figures are available.

David Lammy: holding answer 15 January 2010
	The figures in the table show pupils who were in English maintained schools and aged 15 at the start of academic years 2001-02 and 2002-03 who progressed to HE by the age of 19 (in 2005-06 and 2006-07 respectively). 2005-06 is the earliest year for which these figures are available.
	These figures have been estimated using matched data from the National Pupil Database, the Higher Education Statistics Agency Student Record and the Learning and Skills Council Individualised Learner Record. Figures for 2007-08 will be available later this year.
	
		
			  Estimates of the number and proportion of pupils aged 15 in 2001-02 and 2002-03 academic years, in English maintained schools, who progressed to HE by the age of 19 in 2005-06 and 2006-07 
			   Young persons in UK HE( 1)  of which; Russell Group HEIs 
			   FSM( 2)  Non-FSM( 2)  FSM  Non-FSM 
			  Academic Year  Number  %  Number  %  Number  %  Number  % 
			 2005-06 10,800 13 156,000 33 1,000 1 33,000 7 
			 2006-07 11,400 14 164,000 33 1,000 1 32,600 7 
			 (1) Includes HE level courses at English Further Education Colleges. (2) FSM and non-FSM indicate receipt and non-receipt of Free School Meals respectively.  Notes:  In 2002-03 there were 81,100 maintained school pupils aged 15 claiming free school meals. This represents around 14 per cent. of all pupils in English maintained schools.  Source:  Matched data from the National Pupil Database, the Higher Education Statistics Agency Student Record and the Learning and Skills Council Individualised Learner Record. All figures are estimates and numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.

Higher Education: Lincolnshire

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many residents in each electoral ward in  (a) Cleethorpes constituency,  (b) North East Lincolnshire local authority area and  (c) North Lincolnshire local authority area attended university in each year since 1997.

David Lammy: Information is not available at electoral ward level. The numbers of enrolments at UK Higher Education Institutions from Cleethorpes Constituency, North East Lincolnshire local authority and North Lincolnshire local authority are provided as an alternative in the following table.
	
		
			  Enrolments( 1)  from Cleethorpes constituency( 2) , North East Lincolnshire local authority( 2)  and North Lincolnshire local authority( 2) -UK Higher Education Institutions( 3) 
			  Academic year  Cleethorpes  North East Lincolnshire  North Lincolnshire 
			 1997/98 1,540 2,400 2,820 
			 1998/99 1,655 2,590 3,010 
			 1999/2000 1,670 2,565 3,140 
			 2000/01 1,720 2,575 3,345 
			 2001/02 1,655 2,515 3,370 
			 2002/03 1,705 2,540 3,415 
			 2003/04 1,795 2,665 3,355 
			 2004/05 1,830 2,750 3,095 
			 2005/06 1,735 2,645 2,990 
			 2006/07 1,730 2,640 3,095 
			 2007/08 1,695 2,565 3,040 
			 2008/09 1,705 2,560 3,050 
			 (1) Covers undergraduate and postgraduate students of all ages enrolled on full-time and part-time courses. (2) The table does not include enrolments where the constituency or local authority of the student cannot be established due to missing or invalid postcode information. (3) Excludes the Open university due to inconsistencies in their coding of students across the time series.  Note: Figures are on a snapshot basis as at 1 December and are rounded to the nearest five.  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record

Higher Education: Student Numbers

Annette Brooke: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many residents of each constituency in England attended university in the most recent academic year for which figures are available.

David Lammy: A copy of a table showing the numbers of enrolments at UK higher education institutions from each constituency in England, in the 2008/09 academic year, will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Snow and Ice: Milton Keynes

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost to business in  (a) Milton Keynes and  (b) the UK of the adverse weather conditions of December 2009 and January 2010.

Rosie Winterton: There are no official estimates at this early stage of local or regional cost to business as a result of the adverse weather but there are indications that some businesses lost trade due to customers being unable to travel or lost output due to staff being unable to attend work.

Students: Finance

Patrick Hall: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many students eligible for payments from the Student Loans Company are awaiting payment;
	(2)  many applications for student loans there were in the 2009-10 academic year; and how many such applications have been approved with full assessment to date;
	(3)  how many applications to the Student Loans Company there were in the academic year 2008-09 for student loans.

David Lammy: In the 2008-09 academic year, there were a total of 956,000 applications for student support for those studying in England.
	I am advised by the Student Loans Company (SLC) that the number of applications received as at 31 January 2010 for 2009-10 academic year was 1,026,000. New applications are still being received. Not all applications result in payments as some applicants decide not to proceed for a number of reasons.
	Figures on the status of applications for maintenance support and numbers of payments were given in the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Hazel Grove (Andrew Stunell) on 1 February 2010,  Official Report, column 140-42w.
	Further information is available on the Student Loans Company (SLC) website:
	http://www.slc.co.uk/statistics/facts%20and%20%20figures/index.html

Students: Finance

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many students in higher education have received payments in respect of  (a) tuition fee loans,  (b) maintenance loans,  (c) grants for living costs,  (d) bursaries and scholarships and  (e) extra help for students with children or adult dependants from his Department in (i) Torbay constituency, (ii) the South West and (iii) England in each of the last three years; and what the total monetary value was of each such type of payment in each area in each such year.

David Lammy: The information is as follows:
	
		
			  Student support-Torbay local authority 
			   Academic year 
			   2006/07  2007/08  2008/09 
			   Students (thousand)  Value (£ million)  Students (thousand)  Value (£ million)  Students (thousand)  Value (£ million) 
			 Tuition Fee Loans 0.9 1.8 1.2 3.0 1.6 4.3 
			 Maintenance Loans 1.7 6.4 1.8 6.3 1.8 6.4 
			 HE Maintenance Grant 0.5 1.1 0.8 1.8 1.3 2.8 
			 HE Grant 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 
			 Extra help for students with children or adult dependents(1) 0.1 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.1 0.4 
		
	
	
		
			  Student support-South West 
			   Academic year 
			   2006/07  2007/08  2008/09 
			   Students (thousand)  Value (£ million)  Students (thousand)  Value (£ million)  Students (thousand)  Value (£ million) 
			 Tuition Fee Loans 37.5 70.8 51.4 126.1 64.0 180.3 
			 Maintenance Loans 72.2 259.5 73.2 259.0 74.9 263.5 
			 HE Maintenance Grant 15.1 28.7 28.1 55.8 43.8 89.9 
			 HE Grant 13.8 11.9 8.6 7.5 2.7 2.3 
			 Extra help for students with children or adult dependents(1) 2.4 6.5 2.8 7.5 3.1 8.5 
		
	
	
		
			  Student support-England 
			   Academic year 
			   2006/07  2007/08  2008/09 
			   Students (thousand)  Value (£ million)  Students (thousand)  Value (£ million)  Students (thousand)  Value (£ million) 
			 Tuition Fee Loans 397.3 807.7 553.5 1,388.6 696.9 1,981.1 
			 Maintenance Loans 728.1 2,613.4 746.2 2,630.7 771.5 2,717.0 
			 HE Maintenance Grant 166.2 334.3 301.4 629.6 466.1 998.6 
			 HE Grant 154.7 136.9 93.8 83.6 29.6 26.3 
			 Extra help for students with children or adult dependents(1) 28.1 78.6 31.8 90.5 36.2 106.7 
			 (1) Childcare Grant, Parental Learning Allowance and Adult Dependants Grant  Source: Student Loans Company 
		
	
	The information requested on bursaries and scholarships is not available centrally as they are the responsibility of higher education institutions.

Students: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what proportion of 18 to 22 year-olds exclusively resident in Romford were studying at university  (a) in 1997 and  (b) on the latest date for which figures are available;
	(2)  what proportion of 18 year-olds participated in higher education in Romford in 2008-09.

David Lammy: It is not possible to identify residents of Romford who did not attend higher education, which would be needed to provide a proportion. Therefore the number of 18 to 22-year-old enrolments at UK higher education institutions from Romford parliamentary constituency has been provided as an alternative. Figures for the 2009/10 academic year will be available in January 2011.
	
		
			  18 to 22-year-old enrolments( 1)  from Romford parliamentary constituency( 2 ) UK higher education institutions-academic years 1997/98 and 2008/09 
			  Age  1997/98  2008/09 
			 18 135 230 
			 19 170 275 
			 20 185 295 
			 21 115 175 
			 22 60 85 
			 Total 18-22 665 1,060 
			 (1 )Covers enrolments to both full-time and part-time undergraduate and postgraduate courses. (2) Excludes students who could not be assigned to a parliamentary constituency due to missing or invalid postcode information.  Note: Figures are based on snapshot as at 1 December to maintain consistency across academic years and have been rounded to the nearest five.  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)

WOMEN AND EQUALITY

Burqas

Peter Bone: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what recent representation she has received on the wearing of burqas in public.

Michael Jabez Foster: The Government Equalities Office has not had any recent representations on the wearing of burqas in public, however it was raised with the Deputy Minister for Woman (Maria Eagle) at the Communities and Local Government Select Committee on 25 January 2010.

Departmental Communication

Nick Hurd: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality pursuant to the answer of Lord Bates of 3 December 2009,  Official Report, House of Lords, column WA68, on Government departments: annual reports, and with reference to the Government Response to the House of Lords Communications Committee's report into Government Communications, whether the Government Equalities Office publishes an annual report on departmental communications.

Michael Jabez Foster: The Government Equalities Office produces an annual report which includes a paragraph on the departmental communications. This can be found on page 24 of the Annual Report and Resource Accounts 2008-09.

Departmental Conferences

John Baron: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality which conferences held overseas have been attended by civil servants based in her Department since its inception; and what the cost to the public purse was of such attendance at each conference.

Michael Jabez Foster: Since its creation on 12 October 2007 the following conferences have been attended by civil servants in the Government Equality Office.
	
		
			  2009-10 
			  Conference description  Total cost (£) 
			 Swedish EU presidency 1,091.60 
			 International Lesbian and Gay European conference 463.10

Departmental Publications

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality if she will place in the Library a copy of the advice issued to Government Equalities Office staff on stress recognition and management.

Michael Jabez Foster: Staff working in the Government Equalities Office can access advice on stress recognition and management via the GEO Staff Handbook, which is an internal document. We will therefore not be placing a copy in the Library.

Departmental Training

Graham Stuart: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many  (a) away days and  (b) conferences that took place outside the Government Equalities Office's buildings attended by civil servants in the that Office there have been since its inception; and what the cost was of each.

Michael Jabez Foster: The Government Equalities Office has held seven away days attended by civil servants outside the Government Equalities Office's buildings since its inception.
	Costs for the five away days for all GEO staff were:
	
		
			  Date  Cost (£) 
			 16 November 2007 4,898 
			 28 April 2008 3,413 
			 6 November 2008 8,242 
			 15 May 2009 6,744 
			 16 October 2009 6,740 
		
	
	Costs for the two away days for the GEO Board were:
	
		
			  Date  Cost (£) 
			 27 November 2008 1,413 
			 26 November 2009 1,267 
		
	
	The GEO does not hold information on the total number of conferences attended by its staff nor the amount that these would have cost.

Departmental Written Questions

David Simpson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what average time the Government Equalities Office took to answer questions for  (a) ordinary written answer and  (b) written answer on a named day in the last 12 months.

Michael Jabez Foster: The information is not available in the form requested.
	46 named day questions were tabled to the Government Equalities Office between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2009. Of these 52 per cent. received substantive answers on the day. 248 ordinary written questions were tabled to the Government Equalities Office between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2009. Of these 45 per cent. received substantive answers within five parliamentary sitting days.

CABINET OFFICE

10 Downing Street: Shops

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many sales there have been of each item of stock in the Downing Street gift shop in the last 12 months.

Angela Smith: A small selection of unsubsidised gifts are available for staff to purchase on a not-for-profit basis.

Central Office of Information: Marketing

Nick Hurd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office with reference to the Central Office of Information press release of 11 December 2009, on the merchandising and promotional items framework, what the estimated monetary value is of each label within each lot.

Tessa Jowell: I have asked the chief executive of the Central Office of Information to write to the hon. Member.
	 Letter from Mark Lund, dated 2 February 2010:
	regarding the Merchandising and Promotional Framework.
	There is no monetary value for each label within each lot estimated on the merchandising and promotional items framework.

Departmental Accountancy

Nick Hurd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether any written instructions have been provided to her Department's Accounting Officer in accordance with paragraph 5.5 of the Ministerial Code since 1997.

Tessa Jowell: The Cabinet Office holds no record of any written instruction since 1997 to the Cabinet Office Accounting Officer under paragraph 5.5 of the Ministerial Code.

Departmental Correspondence

Nick Hurd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the policy of  (a) her Department and  (b) the Prime Minister's Office is on the maximum time that should be taken to respond to correspondence from members of the public.

Tessa Jowell: The Prime Minister's Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr. Maude) on 29 January 2010,  Official Report, columns 1140-41W.

Disclosure of Information: Home Office

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will place in the Library a copy of the letter from the Cabinet Office's Director of Security and Intelligence  (a) dated 8 October 2008 sent to SO15 Counter Terrorism Command requesting the assistance of the police into the investigation of Home Office leaks and  (b) of 29 October 2008 sent to Deputy Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick calling for a scoping exercise to be undertaken.

Tessa Jowell: A copy of the letter dated 8 October was part of the evidence submitted to PASC on 10 December by the Cabinet Secretary and later published on their website. The text was also included in the PASC Report Leaks and Whistleblowing in Whitehall (HC 83).
	I will place a redacted copy of the letter of 29 October sent to Deputy Commissioner Cressida Dick in the Libraries of the House. This letter has been seen and discussed by the Committee on Issue of Privilege (Police Searches on Parliamentary Estate), during their evidence sessions.

Electoral Register: British Nationals Abroad

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many UK citizens resident abroad are registered to vote in each parliamentary constituency, ranked from highest to lowest in respect of the number in each constituency.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated February 2010:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your question asking how many UK citizens resident overseas are registered to vote in each Parliamentary constituency, ranked from highest to lowest in respect of the number in each constituency. (314900)
	Table 1 shows the number of overseas electors registered to vote by Parliamentary constituency in the UK in 2008, in descending order. 2008 is the latest year for which data are available. A copy has been placed in the libraries of the house.

Government Communications

Nick Hurd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 1 December 2009,  Official Report, column 702W, on Government communications, what substantive documents have been published for members of the Government Communication Network in the last 12 months.

Tessa Jowell: The Government Communications Network (GCN) is a virtual, online network and resource open to Civil Servants who have a role or interest in Government communications.
	The Government Communications Network does not publish formal reports, best practice material is available on the GCN website and updated on a regular basis.

Government Communications: Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will place in the Library a copy of the speech, presentation and speaking notes made by the Permanent Secretary for Government Communications, Mr. Matt Tee, at the briefing held by Hanover in November 2009.

Tessa Jowell: On this occasion Mr. Tee spoke without notes or presentation materials.

Government Departments: Private Detectives

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office with reference to the answer of 15 January 2009,  Official Report, column 873W, on private detectives, whether other Government Departments have hired or commissioned individuals from the panel of independent investigators.

Tessa Jowell: Yes. Government Departments have hired individuals from the panel to undertake internal investigations. Investigations are commissioned following consultation with my Department.

Government Departments: Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office with reference to the answer of 20 April 2009,  Official Report, column 351W, on central government: public relations, in what month of 1997 the framework was established; and which public relations companies have been included in that framework in each year since it was established.

Tessa Jowell: I have asked the chief executive of the Central Office of Information to write to the hon. Member.
	 Letter from Mark Lund, dated 2 February 2010:
	regarding the PR Framework.
	The COI only hold the details of companies included on the current framework and a copy has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
	The current Pubic Relations Companies that are included on the COI framework are also listed on the COI website
	www.coi.gov.uk
	Information on companies from previous frameworks is not held centrally.

Public Expenditure

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what measures are used by  (a) her Department and  (b) the Office for National Statistics of the level of cost inflation within the public sector.

Liam Byrne: I have been asked to reply.
	The measure for price inflation that the Government use when expressing spending allocations in real terms is the GDP deflator, which measures changes in the overall level of prices for the goods and services in GDP. The latest projections can be found on p.169 of the pre-Budget report 2009:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/prebud_pbr09_index.htm
	The Office for National Statistics also publishes the GDP deflator for past years, details of which can be found in UK National Accounts: The Blue Book 2009.

Unemployment: Inverness

Danny Alexander: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the average length of time was for which claimants aged between 18 and 24 years resident in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency were in receipt of jobseeker's allowance in  (a) each of the last 12 months and  (b) each of the last five years.

Dawn Butler: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	  Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated 4 February 2010:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what the average length of time was for which claimants aged between 18 and 24 years resident in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency were in receipt of jobseeker's allowance in (a) each of the last 12 months and (b) each of the last five years. (315683)
	The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) is taken from the Jobcentre Plus administrative system. The length of a claim has been defined as the time between the start of an individual's claim and the count date in each reference month. Table 1 shows the median length of live claims for claimants aged between 18-24 years during the last 12 months up to the latest available period in December 2009, and for December of each of the last 5 years.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	
		
			  Table 1: Median length of claims of jobseeker's allowance of persons( 1)  aged 18 to 24 years resident in the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency 
			   Median length of claim (months) 
			 December 2004 5.7 
			 December 2005 6.1 
			 December 2006 7.4 
			 December 2007 6.2 
			 December 2008 7.2 
			   
			 January 2009 7.3 
			 February 2009 5.7 
			 March 2009 7.9 
			 April 2009 9.1 
			 May 2009 9.2 
			 June 2009 8.9 
			 July 2009 8.4 
			 August 2009 9.4 
			 September 2009 10.3 
			 October 2009 9.6 
			 November 2009 8.4 
			 December 2009 7.8 
			 (1) Length of claim data is only available for computerised claims, which account for 99.7 per cent. of all claims.  Source: Jobcentre Plus Administrative System

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Families: Government Assistance

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department has allocated to Family Nurse Partnerships in 2010-11.

Ann Keen: I have been asked to reply.
	The Department of Health took over financial responsibility for the Family Nurse Partnership programme from 2008-09. Budget allocations for 2010-11 will be finalised shortly.

Higher Education: Admissions

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils eligible for free school meals took up a university place to study each subject  (a) group and  (b) line in the latest year for which figures are available.

David Lammy: I have been asked to reply.
	The figures in the table show pupils who were in receipt of free school meals who were in English maintained schools and aged 15 at the start of the 2002/03 academic year who progressed to HE by the age of 19 (in 2006/07) by subject group. Figures are not available by subject line.
	These figures have been estimated using matched data from the National Pupil Database, the Higher Education Statistics Agency Student Record and the Learning and Skills Council Individualised Learner Record. 2005/06 is the earliest year for which these figures are available. Figures for 2007/08 will be available later in 2010.
	
		
			  Estimates of the number of free school meal pupils aged 15 in 2002/03 academic year, in English maintained schools, who progressed to HE by the age of 19 in2006/07, by subject group 
			  Subject of  s tudy  FSM pupils 
			 Medicine and Dentistry 140 
			 Subjects allied to Medicine 920 
			 Biological Sciences 910 
			 Veterinary Sciences, Agriculture and related subjects 30 
			 Combination of Science 170 
			 Physical Sciences 270 
			 Mathematical and Computer Sciences 920 
			 Engineering 365 
			 Combination with Science 560 
			 Technologies 60 
			 Architecture, Building and Planning 200 
			 Social studies 740 
			 Law 775 
			 Business and Administrative studies 1,580 
			 Non-Science Combination 750 
			 Mass Communications and Documentation 330 
			 Linguistics, Classics and related subjects 215 
			 European Languages, Literature and related subjects 55 
			 Eastern, Asiatic, African, American and Australasian Languages, Literature and related subjects 20 
			 Historical and Philosophical studies 230 
			 Creative Arts and Design 1,035 
			 Education 315 
			 Generic Combined 135 
			  Notes: 1. All figures are estimates and have been rounded to the nearest five, figures less than 5 are shown as '-', zero counts are shown as '0'. 2. The figures for FSM pupils are based on those recorded as such on Pupil Level Census 2003/04. As this is a snapshot of pupils in one year, this will exclude pupils who claimed free school meals in previous years. Also some parents may choose not to apply for FSM. 3. Children from these families who progress to HE institutions would not be included in the table.  Source: Matched data from the National Pupil Database, the Higher Education Statistics Agency Student Record and the Learning and Skills Council Individualised Learner Record.

Higher Education: Admissions

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils eligible for free school meals took up a place at each university in the latest year for which figures are available.

David Lammy: I have been asked to reply.
	The figures in the table show pupils who were in receipt of free school meals who were in English maintained schools and aged 15 at the start of the 2002/03 academic year who progressed to HE by the age of 19 (in 2006/07) by higher education institution.
	These figures have been estimated using matched data from the National Pupil Database, the Higher Education Statistics Agency Student Record and the Learning and Skills Council Individualised Learner Record. 2005/06 is the earliest year for which these figures are available. Figures for 2007/08 will be available later in 2010.
	
		
			  Estimates of the number of free school meal pupils aged 15 in 2002/03 academic year, in English maintained schools, who progressed to HE by the age of 19 in 2006/07, by higher education institution 
			  Higher education institution  FSM pupils 
			 The Open University 125 
			 Bishop Grosseteste University College - 
			 Lincoln 10 
			 Buckinghamshire New University 70 
			 Central School of Speech and Drama - 
			 University of Chester 75 
			 Canterbury Christ Church University 50 
			 York St John University 20 
			 University College Plymouth St Mark and St John 10 
			 Dartington College of Arts 5 
			 Edge Hill University 110 
			 University College Falmouth 10 
			 Harper Adams University College - 
			 The University of Winchester 25 
			 Liverpool Hope University 95 
			 University of the Arts, London 90 
			 University of Bedfordshire 120 
			 The University of Northampton 50 
			 Newman College of Higher Education 35 
			 Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication 20 
			 Roehampton University 125 
			 Rose Bruford College - 
			 Royal Academy of Music 0 
			 Royal College of Music 0 
			 Royal Northern College of Music - 
			 Southampton Solent University 75 
			 St Martin's College 45 
			 St Mary's University College, Twickenham 30 
			 Leeds Trinity and All Saints 35 
			 Trinity Laban 0 
			 The University of Worcester 25 
			 Anglia Ruskin University 70 
			 Bath Spa University 25 
			 The University of Bolton 55 
			 Bournemouth University 60 
			 The University of Brighton 85 
			 Birmingham City University 250 
			 The University of Central Lancashire 215 
			 University of Gloucestershire 35 
			 Coventry University 170 
			 University of Derby 105 
			 The University of East London 235 
			 The University of Greenwich 275 
			 University of Hertfordshire 280 
			 The University of Huddersfield 185 
			 The University of Lincoln 55 
			 Kingston University 350 
			 Leeds Metropolitan University 190 
			 Liverpool John Moores University 275 
			 The Manchester Metropolitan University 415 
			 Middlesex University 290 
			 De Montfort University 215 
			 The University of Northumbria at Newcastle 110 
			 The Nottingham Trent University 135 
			 Oxford Brookes University 30 
			 The University of Plymouth 105 
			 The University of Portsmouth 85 
			 Sheffield Hallam University 195 
			 London South Bank University 185 
			 Staffordshire University 50 
			 The University of Sunderland 100 
			 The University of Teesside 130 
			 Thames Valley University 120 
			 University of the West of England, Bristol 85 
			 The University of Chichester 25 
			 The University of Westminster 420 
			 The University of Wolverhampton 295 
			 The University of Wales, Newport 10 
			 The North-East Wales Institute of Higher Education 10 
			 University of Wales Institute, Cardiff 5 
			 University of Glamorgan 15 
			 Swansea Institute of Higher Education 5 
			 Trinity College, Carmarthen - 
			 University of Abertay Dundee 0 
			 Edinburgh College of Art - 
			 Glasgow School of Art - 
			 Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh - 
			 The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama 0 
			 The Robert Gordon University - 
			 The University of Paisley 0 
			 Glasgow Caledonian University - 
			 Napier University - 
			 Aston University 95 
			 The University of Bath 15 
			 The University of Birmingham 100 
			 The University of Bradford 220 
			 The University of Bristol 20 
			 Brunel University 190 
			 The University of Cambridge 20 
			 The City University 160 
			 University of Durham 30 
			 The University of East Anglia 35 
			 The University of Essex 70 
			 The University of Exeter 15 
			 The University of Hull 75 
			 The University of Keele 50 
			 The University of Kent 75 
			 The University of Lancaster 40 
			 The University of Leeds 105 
			 The University of Leicester 55 
			 The University of Liverpool 90 
			 Birkbeck College 10 
			 Goldsmiths College 100 
			 Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine 45 
			 Institute of Education 0 
			 King's College London 120 
			 London School of Economics and Political Science 30 
			 Queen Mary and Westfield College 250 
			 Royal Holloway and Bedford New College 35 
			 The Royal Veterinary College - 
			 St George's Hospital Medical School 25 
			 The School of Oriental and African Studies 35 
			 The School of Pharmacy 15 
			 University College London 50 
			 University of London (Institutes and activities) 0 
			 Loughborough University 50 
			 The University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 35 
			 The University of Nottingham 55 
			 The University of Oxford 25 
			 The University of Reading 40 
			 The University of Salford 155 
			 The University of Sheffield 55 
			 The University of Southampton 45 
			 The University of Surrey 35 
			 The University of Sussex 35 
			 The University of Warwick 30 
			 The University of York 15 
			 The University of Edinburgh - 
			 The University of Glasgow - 
			 The University of Strathclyde - 
			 The University of Aberdeen 10 
			 Heriot-Watt University 5 
			 The University of Dundee 5 
			 The University of St Andrews 5 
			 The University of Stirling 10 
			 Scottish Agricultural College 0 
			 The University of Wales, Lampeter 5 
			 Aberystwyth University 30 
			 Bangor University 20 
			 Cardiff University 20 
			 Swansea University 15 
			 Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama - 
			 The Queen's University of Belfast - 
			 University of Ulster 5 
			 Writtle College 5 
			 Norwich School of Art and Design 5 
			 Cumbria Institute of the Arts 10 
			 St. Mary's University College 0 
			 Royal Agricultural College 0 
			 UHI Millennium Institute - 
			 The Arts Institute at Bournemouth 5 
			 Bell College - 
			 Conservatoire for Dance and Drama - 
			 Birmingham College of Food, Tourism and Creative Studies 55 
			 Courtauld Institute of Art 0 
			 London Metropolitan University 315 
			 The University of Buckingham - 
			 The University of Manchester 145 
			 Heythrop College - 
			 The University College for the Creative Arts 40 
			 Leeds College of Music 0 
			 Guildhall School of Music and Drama 0 
			 The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts 5 
			  Notes: 1. All figures are estimates and have been rounded to the nearest five, figures less than five are shown as '-', zero counts are shown as '0'. 2. The figures for FSM pupils are based on those recorded as such on Pupil Level Census 2003/04. As this is a snapshot of pupils in one year, this will exclude pupils who claimed free school meals in previous years. Also some parents may choose not to apply for FSM. 3. Children from these families who progress to HE institutions would not be included in the table.  Source: Matched data from the National Pupil Database, the Higher Education Statistics Agency Student Record and the Learning and Skills Council Individualised Learner Record.

Pupil Exclusions: Gloucestershire

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils from  (a) primary,  (b) secondary and  (c) special schools were (i) temporarily and (ii) permanently excluded in (A) Stroud constituency and (B) Gloucestershire in academic year 2008-09.

Vernon Coaker: Exclusions data for 2008/09 is not yet available. A Statistical First Release including national and local authority level data is due to be published in July showing this information.
	Information on exclusions for the 2007/08 school year are provided in the following table.
	
		
			  Maintained primary schools, state-funded secondary schools and special schools( 1,2,3)  number of pupil enrolments( 4)  with fixed period and permanent exclusions 2007/08 
			   Stroud parliamentary constituency  Gloucestershire local authority 
			   Fixed period exclusions  Permanent exclusions( 5)  Fixed period exclusions  Permanent exclusions( 6) 
			 Primary 30 0 200 20 
			 All Secondary 420 20 2,010 110 
			 Special 50 * 110 * 
			 Total 500 20 2,320 140 
			 * = Less than 5. (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes city technology colleges and academies (including all through academies). (3) Includes maintained and non-maintained special schools. Excludes general hospital schools. (4) Pupils may be counted more than once if they were registered at more than one school or moved schools during the school year. (5) Figures are reported by schools and are known to be incomplete. (6) Estimates based on confirmed local authority figures.  Note: Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.  Source: School Census

NORTHERN IRELAND

Departmental Manpower

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many employees in  (a) his Department and  (b) each of its agencies are in transition prior to being managed out; how long on average the transition window between notification and exit has been in (i) his Department and (ii) each of its agencies in each of the last five years; what estimate he has made of the salary costs of staff in transition in each such year; and what proportion of employees in transition were classed as being so for more than six months in each year.

Paul Goggins: The following information relates to surplus staff.
	 (a) No Northern Ireland Office (NIO) staff have been managed out in the last five years.
	 (b) In 2009, sixteen staff were in transition prior to being managed out to the Youth Justice Agency. The transition window between notification and exit was eight months. Salary costs were approximately £350,000. Five per cent. of these staff were in transition for more than six months.

Driving Offences: Sentencing

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 25 January 2010,  Official Report, columns 511-2W, on driving offences, how many custodial sentences were handed down for causing grievous bodily injury by driving carelessly (a) when unfit and (b) with excess alcohol; and what the (i) average, (ii) longest and (iii) shortest custodial sentence was in each of those years.

Paul Goggins: The following table documents the number convicted, the number sentenced to immediate custody and the average, the shortest and longest custodial sentence length (in months) given for each of the offences 'cause grievous bodily injury by driving carelessly when unfit' and 'causing grievous bodily injury by driving carelessly with excess alcohol'.
	Data cover the calendar years 2005 and 2006 and are collated on the principal offence rule; so only the most serious offence for which an offender is convicted is included.
	
		
			  'Cause grievous bodily injury by driving carelessly when unfit' and 'causing grievous bodily injury by driving carelessly with excess alcohol'-number convicted, number sentenced to immediate custody and the average, shortest and longest custodial sentence length (in months) given, 2005 and 2006 
			 Sentence length (in months)( 1) 
			   Number convicted  Number given immediate custody  Average  Shortest  Longest 
			  2005  
			 Cause grievous bodily injury by driving carelessly when unfit 1 1 6 6 6 
			 Causing grievous bodily injury by driving carelessly with excess alcohol 4 3 26 14 42 
			   
			  2006  
			 Cause grievous bodily injury by driving carelessly when unfit 3 3 14 6 24 
			 Causing grievous bodily injury by driving carelessly with excess alcohol 4 3 11 6 18 
			 (1) Sentence lengths have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

Driving Offences: Sentencing

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 25 January 2010,  Official Report, columns 511-2W, on driving offences, what the  (a) average,  (b) longest and  (c) shortest custodial sentence handed down for a motoring offence causing death was in (i) 2005 and (ii) 2006; and how many custodial sentences were handed down in each of those years.

Paul Goggins: The following table documents the number convicted, the number sentenced to immediate custody and the average, the shortest and longest custodial sentence length (in months) given for motoring offences causing death for each of the requested years.
	Data are collated on the principal offence rule; so only the most serious offence for which an offender is convicted is included.
	
		
			  Number convicted, number sentenced to immediate custody and the average, shortest and longest custodial sentence length (in months) given for motoring offences causing death 
			 Sentence length (in months) 
			   Number convicted  Number given immediate custody  Average  Shortest  Longest 
			 2005 9 8 32 9 72 
			 2006 13 12 42 3 108 
			 (1) Sentence lengths have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

Newspaper Licensing Agency

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what payments were made by his Department and each of its agencies to the Newspaper Licensing Agency in each of the last 10 years.

Paul Goggins: The following table shows the expenditure to the Newspaper Licensing Agency by the Northern Ireland Office including its agencies, but excluding NDPBs and the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland. Figures cover the last seven years for which records are available.
	
		
			   £ 
			 2003-04 65,215.22 
			 2004-05 62,720.95 
			 2005-06 42,944.26 
			 2006-07 50,318.56 
			 2007-08 40,337.07 
			 2008-09 44,798.56 
			 2009-10 40,585.63

Sexual Offences: Sentencing

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 25 January 2010,  Official Report, columns 512-14, on sexual offences, in respect of each category of offence,  (a) what the average length of custodial sentence was,  (b) how many custodial sentences were handed down and  (c) what the (i) longest and (ii) shortest custodial sentence for each category of offence was.

Paul Goggins: The following tables document the number convicted, the number sentenced to immediate custody and the average, the shortest and longest custodial sentence length (in months) given for serious sexual assault offences broken down by offence.
	Data cover the calendar years 2004 to 2006 and are collated on the principal offence rule; so only the most serious offence for which an offender is convicted is included.
	
		
			  Number convicted, number sentenced to immediate custody and the average, shortest and longest custodial sentence length (in months) given for serious sexual assault offences by offence 
			  2004 
			 Sentence length (in months)( 1) 
			  Offence  Number convicted  Number given immediate custody  Average  Shortest  Longest 
			 Rape(2) 15 15 119 48 Life 
			 Attempted rape 3 3 104 48 144 
			 Gross indecency with child 3 3 17 12 20 
			 Buggery with male person, 16 years or over without consent 0 0 - - - 
			 Buggery with boy under 16 years of age 6 4 113 60 168 
			 Buggery with a woman 1 1 72 72 72 
			 Buggery with a girl 1 1 24 24 24 
			 Unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 14 years 4 3 20 6 30 
			 Unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 17 years 2 0 - - - 
			 Incest by man on female 0 0 - - - 
			 Forcibly abducting a female with intent to carnally know her 0 0 - - - 
			 Indecent assault on female(3) 57 19 21 2 60 
			 Indecent assault on male 17 9 15 3 36 
			 Indecent assault on female child 3 2 18 12 24 
			 Indecent assault on male child(4) 4 2 48 48 48 
			 (1). Sentence lengths have been rounded to the nearest whole number. (2).The average sentence length excludes the one offender sentenced to life imprisonment. (3). Sentence length information excludes one offender sentenced to a juvenile justice centre order. (4). Sentence length information excludes one offender sentenced to a juvenile justice centre order. 
		
	
	
		
			  Number convicted, number sentenced to immediate custody and the average, shortest and longest custodial sentence length (in months) given for serious sexual assault offences by offence 
			  2005 
			 Sentence length (in months)( 1) 
			  Offence  Number convicted  Number given immediate custody  Average  Shortest  Longest 
			 Rape 4 4 105 48 144 
			 Attempted rape 4 4 81 60 120 
			 Gross indecency with child 6 3 14 8 24 
			 Buggery with male person, 16 years or over without consent 0 0 - - - 
			 Buggery with boy under 16 years of age 1 1 96 96 96 
			 Buggery with a woman 0 0 - - - 
			 Buggery with a girl 0 0 - - - 
			 Unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 14 years 3 3 17 14 18 
			 Unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 17 years 4 0 - - - 
			 Incest by man on female 1 1 36 36 36 
			 Forcibly abducting a female with intent to carnally know her 0 0 - - - 
			 Indecent assault on female 51 21 29 3 84 
			 Indecent assault on male 11 4 38 9 96 
			 Indecent assault on female child 18 13 27 6 66 
			 Indecent assault on male child 5 3 45 8 78 
			 (1). Sentence lengths have been rounded to the nearest whole number. 
		
	
	
		
			  Number convicted, number sentenced to immediate custody and the average, shortest and longest custodial sentence length (in months) given for serious sexual assault offences by offence 
			  2006 
			 Sentence length (in months)( 1) 
			  Offence  Number convicted  Number given immediate custody  Average  Shortest  Longest 
			 Rape 11 11 125 48 180 
			 Attempted rape 0 0 - - - 
			 Gross indecency with child 5 3 32 18 54 
			 Buggery with male person, 16 years or over without consent 0 0 - - - 
			 Buggery with boy under 16 years of age 3 3 125 108 144 
			 Buggery with a woman 0 0 - - - 
			 Buggery with a girl 0 0 - - - 
			 Unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 14 years 3 2 42 36 48 
			 Unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 17 years 5 4 13 8 24 
			 Incest by man on female 1 0 - - - 
			 Forcibly abducting a female with intent to carnally know her 0 0 - - - 
			 Indecent assault on female(2) 73 41 29 2 96 
			 Indecent assault on male 8 4 31 6 72 
			 Indecent assault on female child 2 1 12 12 12 
			 Indecent assault on male child 0 0 - -  
			 (1).Sentence lengths have been rounded to the nearest whole number (2) Sentence length information excludes one offender sentenced to a juvenile justice centre order

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon Emissions

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to encourage retailers to reduce their carbon emissions; what representations he has received on campaigns organised by not-for-profit organisations to encourage retailers to conserve energy; and if he will make a statement.

Joan Ruddock: The Government have in place a number of measures to encourage retailers to reduce carbon emissions. These include the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, which will enter into force this year; advice and support, including through the Carbon Trust and Business Link; and a range of financial incentives to encourage energy efficient investment, including Enhanced Capital Allowances and interest free energy efficiency loans for small and medium enterprises. DECC also works closely with DEFRA in efforts to help retailers reduce carbon emissions from products and services.
	In addition, the retail sector and the Government are working together to develop a low carbon action plan for retail. BIS, DEFRA and DECC are currently working in partnership with the British Retail Consortium and the Association of Convenience Stores to identify key priorities and actions to improve the environmental performance of the retail sector.
	I am aware of representations on this subject from the 10:10 campaign; these are being considered as part of the work outlined above.

Electricity Generation

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the price per megawatt hour of electricity generated over the life cycle of proposed new  (a) coal,  (b) gas,  (c) oil,  (d) hydroelectric,  (e) nuclear and  (f) tidal power generating facilities.

David Kidney: The Government have carried out analysis on generation costs in recent years to inform policy decisions. Some of these estimates were published as part of the Energy Review (2006)
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file32014.pdf
	More recently the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) have published estimated levelised costs (£/MWh, in 2008 prices) associated with 1 MWh of electricity generated from some technologies, for their December 2008 report
	http://www.theccc.org.uk/pdf/TSO-ClimateChange.pdf
	as set out in the following table and include construction, operation and maintenance costs and where applicable the cost of carbon allowances (EU ETS). Moreover, for nuclear, they also include the costs of decommissioning and waste.
	
		
			  Technology  Levelised cost (£/MWh)  2010 
			  Coal fired plant  
			 Coal-central fuel 54 
			   
			  Gas fired plant  
			 CCGT-central fuel 53 
			   
			  Nuclear plant  
			 Nuclear 51 
			  Source: The Committee on Climate Change (2008) Building a low-carbon economy p189 
		
	
	Government estimates for the cost of electricity generated from hydroelectric plant were published in the DTI report Impact of banding the Renewables Obligation-Costs of electricity production (2007)
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/Tiles/file39038.pdf
	
		
			  Technology -Hydroelectric  Levelised cost (£/MWh) 2010 
			 Small scale (.1.25 MW)-central cost 71 
			 Mid scale (1.25-20 MW)-central cost 63 
			  Source: DTI (2006) Impact of banding the Renewables Obligation-Costs of electricity production p32-34 
		
	
	The estimated costs of tidal generation were estimated as part of the response to the consultation on the Renewable Energy Strategy. These are set out as follows:
	
		
			  Technology  Capital cost (£/kW)2008  Operating cost (£/kW/year)  Availability (percentage) 
			 Tidal stream 2,800-3,800 75-80 30-40 
			  Source: Redpoint Trilemma (2008) Implementation of EU 2020 Renewable Target in the UK Electricity Sector: Renewable Support Schemes. http://decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/cons_res/rescon_support/rescon_support.aspx 
		
	
	Government do not have a recent cost estimate for the price per megawatt hour of electricity generated from oil-fired plant.
	It should be noted that the estimates of levelised costs for different types of electricity generation are highly sensitive to the assumptions used for capital costs, fuel and EU ETS allowance prices, operating costs, load factor, and other drivers. In reality, there are large uncertainties and ranges around these figures.

Energy: Conservation

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households in  (a) England and  (b) Leeds North West constituency have received assistance from the Community Energy Saving Programme in the latest period for which figures are available.

Joan Ruddock: The Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP) went live on 1 September 2009. There is currently one CESP scheme that has commenced which is in Walsall where work began in January. This scheme will deliver energy efficiency benefits to up to 136 households; work has been completed in a few of these households to date.
	Figures will be available from 1 May 2010 when Ofgem is required to provide its first report to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State.

Heating

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what progress he has made in taking forward the connection of the Pimlico and Whitehall district heating schemes as announced in the Budget 2009; and how much his Department is planning to spend on this project.

Joan Ruddock: Working closely with the London Development Agency we have made good progress identifying the route for the pipe work, location of the interconnector and with resolving certain technical issues involved with this complicated project. DECC has earmarked £1.75 million for the project, subject to match funding by the London Development Agency.

Nuclear Power

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2010,  Official Report, column 187W, on nuclear power: regulation, what cost recovery has been applied to the Nuclear Industry Association, as originator of the nuclear justification document which was the subject of discussion at the public consultation meeting; and whether he plans to apply cost recovery to applicants for any future meetings held on nuclear justification.

David Kidney: The Nuclear Industry Association met the cost of making its application for a Regulatory Justification decision. The public engagement event on 19 January was part of the Government's public consultation on my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's proposed decisions. It is therefore proper that the Government meet the cost of the event.

Nuclear Power Stations: Leukaemia

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment his Department has made of the incidence of leukaemia in children aged under five years living within a five kilometre radius of a nuclear site.

David Kidney: holding answer 2 February 2010
	We are currently consulting on my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's proposed decisions that two new nuclear power station designs, the API000 and EPR, are justified under the terms of the Justification of Practices Involving Ionising Radiation Regulations 2004.
	Chapter 3 of the proposed decision documents sets out what account my right hon. Friend has taken of recent studies on the impact of radiation on human health in coming to his proposed decisions.
	Copies of the consultation documents have been placed in the Library of the House and are available at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/reg_just_cons/reg_just_cons.aspx

Oil: Overseas Trade

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the  (a) volume and  (b) monetary value of refined oil and petroleum products (i) exported and (ii) imported in each of the last five years.

David Kidney: The information requested is in the following tables.
	
		
			  Crude oil and petroleum products 
			  Value (£ million) 
			   Exported  Imported 
			 2004 16,470 13,820 
			 2005 19,595 19,415 
			 2006 22,135 23,390 
			 2007 22,725 22,495 
			 2008 31,790 35,070 
		
	
	
		
			  Crude oil and petroleum products 
			  Thousand tonnes of oil equivalent 
			   Exported  Imported 
			 2004 103,621 88,394 
			 2005 91,498 88,832 
			 2006 86,349 94,207 
			 2007 88,464 90,112 
			 2008 84,325 91,683 
		
	
	These data are published in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (Tables 1.1 to 1.6).

Power Stations: EU Law

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment has been made of the effect on  (a) the size of energy bills and  (b) the number of jobs in the energy sector of implementation of the provisions of the EU Large Combustion Plant Directive.

David Kidney: The impact of the implementation of the large combustion plants directive is taken into account within all projections of future energy prices published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
	The impact of the large combustion plants directive specifically on energy bills and jobs in isolation from other policies has not been assessed.

Radioactive Materials: Waste Management

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what evidence his Department is using to decide on the minimum burial depth for each grade of nuclear waste.

David Kidney: holding answer 1 February 2010
	The depth of the facilities for the disposal of radioactive waste are considered on a facility by facility basis by the operator, who will need to satisfy the independent safety and environmental regulators that people and the environment will be protected.
	The White Paper Managing Radioactive Waste Safely: A Framework for Implementing Geological Disposal' states that the 'depth at which the underground vaults and disposal tunnels will be located is likely to be somewhere between 200 and 1000 metres, but this will depend on the geology at the site in question'. This statement is drawn directly from recommendations of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management released in 2006

Radioactive Materials: Waste Management

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what account was taken of scientific predictions of future rising sea levels in the process of deciding upon nuclear waste storage sites; and if he will make a statement.

David Kidney: holding answer 1 February 2010
	The bulk storage of nuclear fuel or nuclear matter (including waste) is a Licensable Activity under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965. The holder of a nuclear site licence to undertake such activities is required to make and implement adequate arrangements for the production and assessment of safety cases consisting of documentation to justify safety of the installation throughout its life.
	This requirement includes demonstrating the safety of any storage facilities from a range of external hazards including sea flooding whatever the cause. These assessments take account of anticipated changes in the nature of external hazards including those as a result of climate change. These assessments are maintained under periodic review to demonstrate the continuing safety of the site.

Radioactive Materials: Waste Management

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps have been taken to ensure that geological disposal of nuclear waste is safe in relation to the possibility of a seismic event in the future.

David Kidney: holding answer 1 February 2010
	The White Paper 'Managing Radioactive Waste Safely: A Framework for Implementing Geological Disposal' (Cmd. 7386) sets out the process to select a site for geological disposal. As part of that process geological stability will be considered in the site specific assessments to be undertaken during desk based studies and site investigations before a site is finally selected.
	Before a disposal facility can begin to operate, the developer will have to demonstrate to the independent safety and environment regulators that it will be safe during operation and following closure, including considerations of geological stability. No facility will be built unless it can meet the demanding safety case requirements of the independent statutory regulators.

Renewable Energy

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department is taking to increase the diversity of energy sources in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

David Kidney: Diversity of energy sources is very important for our energy security of supply objectives as it means that we are not overly reliant on any one technology, fuel or supplier.
	On electricity for example, the Government are taking steps to increase the diversity of energy sources in the UK by creating a supportive policy framework for investments in new energy infrastructure. This mix comprises low carbon technologies such as renewables, nuclear, coal carbon capture and storage and gas.

Uranium: Mining

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what submissions were received on uranium mining, milling and processing in the consultation his Department held on nuclear justification in 2009; what account was taken of those submissions in preparation of the current nuclear justification consultation; what technical advice his Department has obtained on the radiological impact of uranium mining in the nuclear fuel production and use cycle compared to other stages; and what his latest information is on the radiological detriment contributed by uranium mining in his Department's comparative sustainability analysis of nuclear new build.

David Kidney: The consultation on my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's proposed decisions that the API000 and EPR nuclear power station designs are Justified under the terms of the Justification of Practices Involving Ionising Radiation Regulations 2004 states that several of those who responded to the previous consultation on the Nuclear Industry Association's application for Regulatory Justification of new nuclear power station designs raised the impact of uranium mining. My right hon. Friend took account of all responses received in coming to the proposed decisions on which we are consulting. The decision documents set out my right hon. Friend's view that he is not bound to take practices outside the UK into account in making his proposed decisions, but that in view of respondents' concerns he has sought further information on the safety regime for uranium mining, and set out the information he has taken into account, including technical advice from Integrated Decision Management.
	The Appraisal of Sustainability published as part of the consultation on the draft Nuclear National Policy Statement is intended to assess the environmental and sustainability impacts of the draft Nuclear National Policy Statement and therefore focuses on those impacts which arise from the draft Nuclear National Policy Statement itself. The draft Nuclear National Policy Statement provides guidance to the Infrastructure Planning Commission on the construction and operation of new nuclear power stations. It does not cover mining or milling of uranium. Copies of the Regulatory Justification consultation documents have been placed in the Library of the House and are available at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/regJust_cons/reg_just_cons.aspx
	Copies of the consultation documents on a draft Nuclear National Policy Statement, have been placed in the Library of the House and are available at:
	https://www.energynpsconsultation.decc.gov.uk/home/
	We will consider any new and relevant information that is submitted as part of these current consultations.

Warm Front Scheme

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department paid to eaga plc for their administration of the warm front scheme in  (a) 2006-07,  (b) 2007-08 and  (c) 2008-09; and how much it is estimated will be paid for 2009-10.

David Kidney: The following table shows the administration fee paid to eaga plc for their administration of the warm front scheme in  (a) 2006-07,  (b) 2007-08 and  (c) 2008-09; and how much it is estimated will be paid for 2009-10.
	
		
			   Fee (£) 
			 2006-07 28,551,000 
			 2007-08 31,464,000 
			 2008-09 28,923,000 
			 2009-10 (forecast) 28,024,000 
			  Note:  The administration fee given for the 2006-07 scheme year differs from that previously released on 27 Feb 2009,  Official Report, column 1139W, following the identification of a data entry error in that response.

Wind Power: Noise

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent representations he has received on limits on noise from onshore wind farms.

David Kidney: Our records show that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has received a small number of representations on noise limits from onshore wind farms in the last six months. This includes correspondence and meetings with interested parties.

TREASURY

Civil Servants: Location

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which  (a) executive agencies,  (b) ministerial departments,  (c) non-ministerial departments and  (d) non-departmental public bodies have been relocated out of London since the Gershon review reported.

Liam Byrne: The 2009 Pre-Budget report announced that by June 2009 nearly 21,000 civil service post had been relocated out of London and the South East.
	The Office of Government Commerce website provides information on departmental contributions towards this total at the address below:
	http://www.ogc.gov.uk/government_relocation_relocation_programme_progress__8176.asp
	This information on OGC's website is summarised in the following table.
	
		
			  Department  Number of posts 
			 Education and Skills 1,052 
			 Health 1,070 
			 Home Office 3,140 
			 Ministry of Justice (formerly DCA) 772 
			 Defence 3,940 
			 Culture, Media and Sport 894 
			 Work and Pensions 4,377 
			 Chancellor's Departments 3,723 
			 Cabinet Office(1) 92 
			 Communities and Local Government (formerly ODPM) 255 
			 Crown Prosecution Service(2) 43 
			 Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 478 
			 Foreign and Commonwealth Office(3) 30 
			 International Development 88 
			 Northern Ireland Office 8 
			 Trade and Industry(4) 632 
			 Transport(5) 38 
			 Total 20,632 
			 (1) Includes 25 Charity Commission relocations. (2) The Crown Prosecution Service had no relocation target at the start of SR04, but later agreed a target of relocating 20 posts out of London and the South East by 31 March 2008. (3) Does not include relocations out of London to Hanslope Park. (4) Includes three OFT relocations. (5) Does not include relocations out of London to Hastings.

Hotels

Nick Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many separate bookings for stays at five star or above hotels were made through the Expotel contract by  (a) his Department,  (b) HM Revenue and Customs,  (c) the Valuation Office Agency and  (d) his Department's agencies in the last 12 months; and at what cost.

Ian Pearson: The Treasury and its agencies do not hold a central record of bookings through Expotel with regard to the star rating of hotels and the information could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Neither HM Revenue and Customs nor the Valuation Office Agency book accommodation through an Expotel contract.

Land: Valuation

Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate the Valuation Office Agency made of the average value of a hectare of land in each of the last 20 quarters.

Ian Pearson: The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) publishes the Property Market Report (PMR). This report provides valuation opinions on land, dwellings and commercial property across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The PMR, available on the VOA's website at
	www.voa.gov.uk/publications
	is published twice yearly reporting on the property market as at 1 January and 1 July.

Public Sector: Consultants

Nick Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which companies have been appointed to each of the lots to provide services referred to in the OGC Buying Solutions Contract Notice 2009/S 60-086533 on general management consultancy services.

Ian Pearson: A list of suppliers awarded to each of the 13 lots of the Management Consultancy and Accounting Services Framework is available on the Buying Solutions website
	www.buyingsolutions.gov.uk/frameworks/

Revenue and Customs

Nick Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much HM Revenue and Customs has spent on the Employee Share Scheme project; what the running costs of the project are estimated to be in 2010-11; and how many transactions have been processed under the scheme.

Ian Pearson: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has spent £9.6 million on the Employee Share Schemes (ESS) project. The estimated running costs for this project for 2010-11 is £796,000. HMRC has processed over 91,000 annual share scheme returns since the project went live in April 2007.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the stamp duty and stamp duty land tax  (a) threshold and  (b) rate was in each relevant year since 1996.

Ian Pearson: Stamp duty reserve tax rates are given at
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sdrt/intro/sdrtrates.htm
	Rates for stamp duty are the same as for stamp duty reserve tax.
	Stamp duty land tax threshold and rates are given at
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sdlt/rates-thresholds.htm#4

Tax Allowances

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  whether HM Revenue and Customs will continue to provide exemption from taxation for existing free travel to work benefits;
	(2)  how much revenue has been raised by the change to HM Revenue and Customs' rules on travel to work benefits;
	(3)  which travel to work schemes will be regarded as a taxable benefit by HM Revenue and Customs in 2010-11;
	(4)  whether recent guidance issued by HM Revenue and Customs will  (a) restrict and  (b) remove the exemption from taxation in respect of free travel-to-work benefits;

David Anderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what assessment he has made of the effects on those who participate in the Salary Sacrifice Travel scheme of his Department's recent revisions to its guidance on the scheme.

Stephen Timms: There have been no changes to the employment related travel expenses' rules since 1998 or to benefits related to travel to work since 2002.
	As a general rule, tax relief is not given for the cost of travelling between home and the workplace. Legislation (sections 243 and 244 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003) sets out the conditions under which relief for a benefit received as a consequence of an employer's support for local bus transport and for Cycle to Work schemes apply.
	In December 2009, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) updated its guidance relating to these schemes to clarify the conditions that need to be met in order for relief to be available. The revised guidance is available at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/specialist/cycles_bus_passes.pdf
	The changes to HMRC's guidance do not widen or restrict the scope of the legislation.
	Information on the revenue implications and the effects on users of these schemes as a result of the change in guidance is not available, as HMRC does not hold the detailed data necessary to produce this analysis.

Tax Avoidance

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the contribution of the then Paymaster General of 3 May 2000,  Official Report, column 217, what the evidential basis was for the £900 million figure; and how much has been raised through IR35 in each year since 2000-01.

Ian Pearson: Estimates of the yield from the Intermediaries legislation (also known as IR35) were informed by a survey of accounts held at Inland Revenue tax offices of small companies with taxable profits that were less than £500,000, conducted in1999-2000.
	With respect to how much has been raised through IR35 in each year since 2000-01, I would refer to the answer given to the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond) on 5 May 2009,  Official Report, column 64W.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Audit Commission

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether board members of the Audit Commission are required to disclose membership of a political party when making a declaration of political activity.

Rosie Winterton: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member direct.
	 Letter from Steve Bundred, dated 5 February 2010:
	Your Parliamentary Question outlined above has been passed to me to reply.
	There is no requirement for Board Members of the Audit Commission to disclose membership of a political party when making a declaration of political activity. The Commission follows the guidance of the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments, which does not require details of party membership.
	A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.

Audit Commission

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many employment disputes involving staff of the Audit Commission have been taken to an employment tribunal in the last four years; what the outcome was of each; and what the grounds of the dispute were in each case, anonymised where necessary.

Rosie Winterton: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission, and I will ask the Chief Executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member direct.
	  Letter from Steve Bundred, dated 5 February 2010:
	Your Parliamentary Question outlined above has been passed to me to reply.
	Seven employment tribunal claims have been brought against the Commission by members of staff or former staff in the last four years. The grounds of dispute and outcome in each case are outlined below.
	1. A former employee argued that dismissal on grounds of redundancy was unfair. The matter was settled on cost efficiency grounds.
	2. A former employee disputed the amount of holiday pay owed by the Commission on termination of employment. The Tribunal dismissed the claim.
	3. A former employee alleged breach of contract relating to an agreement to make payment in lieu of notice (PILON). The claim was settled for a nominal amount.
	4. A former employee brought a claim against the Commission for failure to make an ill-health retirement recommendation to the Commission's Pension Scheme Trustees. The claim was withdrawn.
	5. A former employee argued that dismissal on grounds of redundancy was unfair. The claim was withdrawn.
	6. Nine members of staff brought a claim against the Commission for equal pay. The claim was upheld by the Employment Tribunal and is the subject to an appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal.
	7. A former employee has brought claims against the Commission for unfair dismissal, race discrimination, disability discrimination and other related claims. The claims are yet to be heard and are fully contested by the Commission.
	A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.

Audit Commission

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what  (a) declaration of interests and  (b) record of gifts and hospitality has been made by each board member and Commissioner of the Audit Commission; and what benefits in kind are provided to the board members of the Audit Commission.

Rosie Winterton: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the Chief Executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member direct.
	 Letter from Steve Bundred, dated 5 February 2010:
	Your Parliamentary Question has been passed to me to reply.
	Board Member Declarations of Interest
	Audit Commission Board members are required to declare any interests that are relevant and material to the Commission, and which they might reasonably be expected to know about. Commissioners must also declare any perceived or actual interest at Board meetings, where the interest relates specifically to a particular issue under consideration. Interests that should be regarded as 'relevant and material' are circumstances in which there is a real possibility of bias, including those in which a Board member or his/her close family or any nominee of his/hers is:
	a paid employee, partner, Director or proprietor of a company or other body with which the Commission has, is entering into or is proposing to enter into a contract;
	is a trustee or on the Committee of Management or other controlling body of a non-profit making organisation, for example a charity or a Housing Association, with which the Commission has significant dealings;
	has a controlling interest or has shares or securities with a nominal value of more than £25,000 or one-hundredth of the total issued share capital in a company or organisation with which the Commission has, is entering into or proposing to enter into a contract;
	has a direct interest in any land or property that is used by the Commission; and/or
	any other general declarations they might wish to make.
	Below is a table of all such declarations made by current Board members. This information is published on the Audit Commission website at:
	http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/aboutus/howwearerun/pages/commissioners.aspx
	
		
			  Commissioner  Interest declared 
			 Michael O'Higgins (Chair) Chair, Centrepoint 
			  Trustee, NatCen 
			  Non-executive Chair, Alexander Mann Solutions 
			  Non-executive Director and Chair, HM Treasury Group Audit Committee 
			 Steve Bundred (Chief Executive) His wife is normally employed by, or contracted with local authorities as an interim manager of children's social services 
			 Bharat Shah (Deputy Chair) (from January 2010) Non-executive Director, Places for People Group 
			 Victor Adebowale CEO/Company Secretary, Turning Point 
			  Co-Chair, Mental Health Delivery, Race Equality Strategy 
			  Commissioner, UK Employment and Training Commission 
			  (Until October 2007) Member, National Employment Panel 
			  National School of Government 
			  Fellow, Sunningdale Institute 
			  Director, Leadership in Mind 
			  Non-Exec Director, St. Vincent's Healthcare Consulting 
			 Cllr Merrick Cockell Elected Member, Royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea 
			  Chairman, London Councils 
			  Chairman, Conservative Councillors' Association 
			 Jim Coulter Chair, Bridging Newcastle Gateshead (December 2008 to November 2011) 
			  Board Member, Tenant Services Authority (October 2008 to September 2012) 
			 Dr. Jennifer Dixon Director, Nuffield Trust 
			  Editorial Board Member, Office for Health Economics 
			  (Until March 2009) Board Member, Healthcare Commission 
			 Sheila Drew Smith Non-executive Board Member, Tenant Services Authority (from October 2008) 
			  Chair, Action for Bow Charity 
			  Non-executive Board Member, London Thames Gateway Development Corporation (from February 2009) 
			  Independent Public Appointments Assessor, Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments 
			 Cllr Steve Houghton Leader, Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council 
			  Barnsley Miller Partnership 
			  Peer, Improvement and Development Agency 
			  Local Government Association Strategy and Finance Policy Review Group 
			 Sir Thomas Legg Non-executive Director, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust 
			  Currently acting as consultant to the Ministry of Justice 
			 Dame Denise Piatt NSPCC 
			  University of Bedfordshire 
			  FPA 
			  National Aids Trust 
			  Adventure Capital Fund Trustee 
			  Independent Review Board, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Services 
			  Committee for Standards in Public Life 
			  Governing Board of the new School for Social Care Research (National Institute for Health Research) 
			  (Until March 2009) Commission for Social Care Inspection 
			 Dr. Raj Rajagopal No declarations 
			 Jenny Watson Electoral Commission 
			  WRAP 
			 Cllr Chris White Hertfordshire county council 
			  St. Albans City and district council 
			  Board Chair and Executive Member, Local Government Association 
			  Member, Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales 
			  A family Member is an employee of Ernst and Young 
		
	
	Board Member Gifts and Hospitality
	The following table summarises the detail of gifts and hospitality declared by Audit Commission Board members:
	
		
			  Notification received  From  To  Nature of gift / hospitality (date)  Accepted 
			 23 July 2006 Deloitte Jim Coulter 2 x concert tickets for event at Alnwick Castle (July 26) Yes 
			 24 July 2008 Sir Christopher and Lady Kelly Dame Denise Piatt Glyndebourne concert ticket (July 27) Yes 
			 7 May 2009 PWC partners (Paul Woolston and Janet Eilbeck) Sheila Drew Smith lunch at Connaught Hotel (6 May) Yes 
			 18 August 2009 PWC partner (Paul Woolston) Bharat Shah Building Public Trust Annual Dinner 2009 at The Dorchester (30 September) Yes 
			 4 September 2009 David Fielding, Tribal Bharat Shah Tribal late summer reception (17 September) Yes 
			 1 February 2010 City Inn Westminster Jim Coulter 2 x bottles wine (donated to Audit Commission staff social committee to raffle at staff event) (21 January) Yes 
		
	
	A record of gifts and hospitality received by the Chairman and Chief Executive is available on our website at:
	http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/legal/freedomofinformation/Pages/hospitalityregister.aspx
	Benefits in Kind
	Audit Commission Board Members receive no benefits in kind, but are entitled to claim travel and subsistence expenses incurred on business, in accordance with the arrangements made for the senior staff of the Audit Commission.
	A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.

Audit Commission

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what declaration of political activity has been made by each board member and Commissioner of the Audit Commission.

Rosie Winterton: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member direct.
	 Letter from Steve Bundred, dated 5 February2010:
	Your Parliamentary Question outlined above has been passed to me to reply.
	Three of the Audit Commission Board's members are local government Councillors and represent the three main political parties:
	Cllr Merrick Cockell (Conservative), elected Member for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea;
	Cllr Stephen Houghton (Labour), elected Member for Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council;
	Cllr Chris White (Liberal Democrat), elected Member for St Albans City and District Council and Hertfordshire County Council.
	On appointment by the Secretary of State, Board members receive Cabinet Office guidance on Codes of Practice for Board Members. The guidance covering political activities, sections (a)-(c), states:
	(a) Members of Boards, whether whole-time or part-time, should not serve as officers carrying out executive duties in any political party.
	(b) Full-time members should abstain from controversial political activity.
	(c) Subject to (a) above, part-time members are free to engage in any political activities, provided that they are conscious of their general public responsibility and exercise proper discretion, particularly in regard to the work of the Boards of which they are members. On matters affecting that work, they should not normally make political speeches or engage in other political activities.
	Beyond the political activities carried out by the Commissioners named above in their role as elected Members, there have been no declarations of political activity made by any member of the Audit Commission Board.
	A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.

Building Alterations

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people were on local authority waiting lists for independent living adaptations and equipment in  (a) the latest period for which figures are available and  (b) each of the last five years.

Ian Austin: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Council Housing: East Sussex

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent on improving social housing stock owned by each district council in East Sussex in each year since 1997.

Ian Austin: Expenditure allowances within the Housing Revenue Account Subsidy system for each authority in East Sussex with housing stock are given in the following tables. Information on actual expenditure by year on improving council owned social housing is not available.
	
		
			  Major repairs allowance (MRA)( 1) 
			  £ 
			   1997- 98  1998- 99  1999-2000  2000- 01  2001- 02  2002- 03  2003- 04 
			 Brighton and Hove n/a n/a n/a n/a 7,917,463 8,195,442 8,426,205 
			 Eastbourne n/a n/a n/a n/a 2,363,484 2,427,564 2,471,834 
			 Lewes n/a n/a n/a n/a 2,000,557 2,052,619 2,099,581 
			 Wealden n/a n/a n/a n/a 1,948,349 2,002,043 2,024,789 
		
	
	
		
			  £ 
			   2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11 
			 Brighton and Hove 8,736,125 8,985,484 8,971,719 9,095,425 9,066,687 9,352,152 9,506,261 
			 Eastbourne 2,533,226 2,583,664 2,579,098 2,615,680 2,617,231 2,711,808 2,754,288 
			 Lewes 2,167,984 2,224,098 2,226,199 2,258,561 2,259,986 2,337,548 2,373,536 
			 Wealden 2,094,978 2,214,481 2,215,602 2,253,976 2,251,531 2,301,688 2,323,582 
			 (1) MRA was not introduced until 1 April 2001 
		
	
	
		
			  Management and maintenance allowances (M and M) 
			  £ 
			   1997-98  1998-99  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04 
			 Brighton and Hove 15,220,265 14,980,773 14,931,470 15,262,050 15,980,533 17,480,012 18,708,004 
			 Eastbourne 4,093,118 3,970,916 3,873,781 3,893,232 3,970,364 4,164,987 4,373,127 
			 Lewes 3,212,815 3,130,108 3,124,602 3,169,084 3,168,280 3,296,800 3,467,499 
			 Wealden 4,013,082 3,920,763 3,811,434 3,694,580 3,572,902 3,584,830 3,425,284 
		
	
	
		
			  £ 
			   2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11 
			 Brighton and Hove 18,920,816 20,215,688 21,857,677 22,305,590 22,164,072 22,910,049 23,471,525 
			 Eastbourne 5,194,968 5,453,505 5,835,339 6,138,943 6,356,221 6,469,761 6,551,787 
			 Lewes 4,117,387 4,398,131 4,730,086 4,900,999 4,982,217 5,098,344 5,262,638 
			 Wealden 4,174,174 4,495,280 4,721,722 4,838,213 4,819,353 4,913,283 4,912,150 
			  Note: Rother transferred its housing stock in 1998-99.

Council Housing: Rents

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions he has had on the system of council rent receipt payments to local authorities.

Ian Austin: In his consultation paper in July, we proposed to end the central pooling of housing capital receipts, so that councils can reinvest these as part of our proposals to move to a self-financing system. Since then we have met with a number of interested stakeholders including local authorities and tenant associations. We plan to make a further announcement in the next few weeks which will describe the progress we have made on self-financing, set-out more details on the proposals and provide a summary of responses to the consultation.

Council Tax

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department has issued guidance to local authorities on the use of charging orders to collect unpaid council tax.

Barbara Follett: In 1993 the Department of the Environment published a number of Practice Notes to assist local authorities in implementing council tax. Practice Note No. 9 provided non-statutory guidance on the recovery and enforcement of council tax, including the use of charging orders.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister jointly published, with the Government Operational Research Service, a Council Tax Collection Good Practice Report in 2004. The report looked at ways of sharing good practice among practitioners, in order to promote continuous improvement in service delivery and collection. Annex D of the report covers the use of charging orders.

Councillors

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance  (a) his Department,  (b) the Audit Commission and  (c) the Standards Board for England has issued on whether the whistleblowing protection provisions of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 apply to councillors in their capacity as a member of the local authority in which they wish to disclose confidential information in the public interest.

Rosie Winterton: Neither this Department, the Audit Commission, nor the Standards Board have issued specific guidance for local authority members about the whistleblowing protection provisions of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.

Councillors: Isle of Wight

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost was of the investigation of the Standards Board for England relating to six councillors on the Isle of Wight in respect of  (a) the tribunal hearing and  (b) all other costs.

Rosie Winterton: Following the transfer of the administration of the First-tier Tribunal (Local Government Standards in England) to the Tribunals Service last year, costs related to tribunal proceedings are a matter for the Ministry of Justice.
	The cost to the Standards Board of the investigation into the six cases and presentation of four of the cases at tribunal, which led to all four councillors being found in breach of the councillors' code of conduct and the tribunal imposing sanctions ranging from censure to a two year suspension, is estimated at £328,000.

Departmental Billing

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the average length of time taken by  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies to pay invoices from (i) small and medium-sized enterprises and (ii) all creditors in the last 12 months.

Barbara Follett: The Prime Minister announced in October 2008 that all central Government Departments will aim to pay invoices within 10 days. Communities and Local Government commenced reporting of 10 day payment performance in November 2008.
	In November 2008, 77.89 per cent. of invoices were paid within 10 days. The latest available data is for December 2009, when 92.91 per cent. of invoices were paid within 10 days. This means that payment performance has increased by 15.02 per cent. points over this period.
	We do not differentiate payments by supplier size as we have determined to pay all suppliers within 10 days.

Departmental Information Officers

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many staff in his Department and its agencies  (a) have the status of embedded communicators and  (b) are members of the Government Communications Network but are not listed in the Central Office of Information White Book.

Barbara Follett: Embedded communicator is not an officially designated term in the Department so there is no clear definition of who would meet the criteria. However I can confirm that eight members of staff at the Department are members of the Government Communications Network working full-time on communications outside of the Communications Directorate and not listed in the Central Office of Information White Book.
	Information about any communications staff employed by the Department's agencies is not held centrally.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to his Department's press release of 6 January 2010, on new faith advisers, what declaration of political activity was made by each adviser he has appointed; and how many advisers have declared membership of a political party.

Shahid Malik: Applicants for the unpaid advisor roles were not required to declare political activity or membership of a political party.

Departmental Public Consultation

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much  (a) his Department and  (b) local authorities has paid to each external consultant contracted to undertake public consultations in each of the last five years.

Barbara Follett: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much area-based grant was allocated in respect of waste collection and waste disposal in the most recent year for which figures are available; what proportion of the total area-based grant this represented; and what targets and performance indicators there are for local authorities in respect of such funding.

Rosie Winterton: Area Based Grant (ABG) is an unringfenced grant and there are no separate allocations for specific purposes. Government funding for local authorities' responsibilities for waste collection and disposal is, in the main, provided through Formula Grant which comprises Revenue Support Grant and National Non Domestic Rates. Formula Grant is also unhypothecated, and the use of this funding is, like ABG, for local authorities to determine.
	There are no targets and performance indicators relevant to waste collection and disposal with respect to ABG.

Empty Property: Sussex

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of empty  (a) residential and  (b) commercial properties in (i) Mid Sussex constituency and (ii) Mid Sussex local authority area in the last five years.

Barbara Follett: The number of empty residential properties in the Mid Sussex local authority area in 2005 to 2009 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Mid Sussex 
			   Number 
			 2005 1,661 
			 2006 1,720 
			 2007 1,534 
			 2008 1,547 
			 2009 1,565 
		
	
	The data are both short-term and long-term empty dwellings as reported annually by all billing authorities in England in October of the year. Data are not available at a constituency level.
	The Department is planning to publish experimental official statistics in February on the number of hereditaments benefiting from small business rate relief and the number of empty hereditaments. This statistical release will provide a national estimate for the number of empty non-domestic properties in England.

Fire Services

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on whether reductions in the number of  (a) fire stations,  (b) fire appliances and  (c) fire-fighters may be classified as efficiency savings for the purposes of (i) annual efficiency statements to his Department and (ii) calculating the value of efficiency savings on council tax bills.

Shahid Malik: The Department has issued efficiency guidance to fire and rescue authorities and I have arranged for a copy to be placed in the Library of the House. In order to be considered an efficiency gain, all savings must be sustainable and subject to a quality cross-check measure to ensure services to communities are as, or more, effective following implementation of the efficiency measure. A sustainable efficiency gain is an efficiency gain which exists for the current year and at least two subsequent financial years afterwards. Efficiency savings are reported by fire and rescue authorities in their annual efficiency statements. Since 2008-09 local authority and fire and rescue authority efficiency savings have been published on the billing authorities council tax demand.

Fire Services: Yorkshire and the Humber

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many combined aerial rescue pump vehicles have been purchased by the fire and rescue service in  (a) South Yorkshire and  (b) East Yorkshire and Humberside in the last five years; at what cost those purchases were made; and who authorised those purchases;
	(2)  how many combined aerial rescue pump vehicles in  (a) South Yorkshire and  (b) East Yorkshire and Humberside are not in use by fire and rescue services; and for what reasons those vehicles are not in use.

Shahid Malik: holding answer 4 February 2010
	 The procurement of equipment is a matter for individual fire and rescue authorities to decide on and authorise. The Department does not maintain information on individual FRS procurements.

Government Offices for the Regions: Procurement

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 15 June 2009,  Official Report, column 18W, on departmental procurement, if he will place in the Library a copy of the list of the names and addresses of each organisation that supplied goods or services to the Government Office for  (a) the South West,  (b) the South East,  (c) London,  (d) the West Midlands,  (e) the East Midlands,  (f) the East of England,  (g) the North East,  (h) the North West and  (i) Yorkshire and the Humber in 2008-09.

Barbara Follett: The information requested has been deposited in the Library of the House.

Holocaust Memorial Day

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps the Government have taken to mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Shahid Malik: The Government fund the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, a registered charity, to co-ordinate a national event to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day every year. The Trust also supports and co-ordinates local events across England, Wales and Scotland.
	This year was a significant milestone, representing the 65(th) anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. The theme of this year's Holocaust Memorial Day was The Legacy of Hope-people learning from the past, to give hope for the future. Several hundred people, including many survivors, gathered at the national event in London, to listen to the testimonies of victims and survivors alike. Tens of thousands of people gathered at hundreds of local events drawing on the same theme.
	I was also pleased to open a Topical Debate on the subject of Holocaust Memorial Day in the House on 28 January this year, in which many hon. and right hon. Members from all sides participated.

Housing: Coventry

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions the Government has had with  (a) Coventry City Council,  (b) Warwick District Council and  (c) others on the allocation of 33,500 new homes as part of the regional housing strategy in Coventry.

Shahid Malik: holding answer 2 February 2010
	 The draft regional spatial spatial strategy (RSS) submitted to Government by the West Midlands regional assembly in December 2007 included an allocation of 33,500 new homes for Coventry and indicated that some of the allocation could be made within Nuneaton and Bedworth and Warwick districts. This had been subject to consultation and was agreed by the local councils. Officials have regularly met and discussed the delivery of these homes with the councils as they prepare their core strategies, which provide a district level plan for the distribution of future housing development. Officials have also participated in discussions on the issue at the examinations of the RSS revision (April-June 2009) and the Coventry core strategy (November-December 2009). A wide range of parties was involved in those discussions.

Housing: South West

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many  (a) social and  (b) affordable homes there were in each planning authority area in the South West in each year since 2005.

Ian Austin: The term social homes has been interpreted as being local authority and registered social landlords social rented dwelling stock. This information is collected centrally by local authority area rather than planning authority area.
	Information on local authority dwelling stock by local authority for each year since 1994 is shown in live table 116 on the Communities and Local Government website at the following link:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/xls/140882.xls
	Information on registered social landlord dwelling stock by local authority for each year since 1997 is shown in live table 115 on the Communities and Local Government website at the following link:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/xls/140879.xls

Local Government Finance

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent estimate he has made of the cost to local authorities of undertaking local economic area assessments.

Rosie Winterton: The Department published a full impact assessment for the local authority economic assessment duty in December 2008. This informed our consideration of the additional burdens likely to fall on local authorities resulting from the new duty. The Government are committed to ensuring that all new burdens falling on local authorities are fully and properly funded so that there is no upward pressure on council tax bills. Additional funding for the local authority economic assessment has been provided through Area Based Grant.
	A copy of the impact assessment will be deposited in the Library of the House.

Local Government: Cornwall

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what cost savings have been made in local government in Cornwall since the date of its reorganisation; what estimate  (a) his Department and  (b) the Boundary Committee made of such savings prior to reorganisation; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State gave on 20 January 2010,  Official Report, column 381W to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps). The Boundary Committee made no estimate of such savings prior to reorganisation in Cornwall.

Local Government: Fixed Penalties

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many powers granting or augmenting the ability of local authorities to issue fixed penalty notices his Department has introduced since May 2005.

Barbara Follett: Since May 2005, we have provided local authorities with powers to issue fixed penalty notices in the following areas: breach of duties in relation to the provision of home information packs under Part 5 of the Housing Act 2004; and breach of duty in relation to Energy Performance Certificates, Display Energy Certificates or Air Conditioning Inspections or Reports under Regulations 40 and 43 of the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007.

Local Government: Norfolk

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations he has received from the Boundary Committee on the level of support in Norfolk for the creation of a single unitary authority in the last three months; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The Boundary Committee's advice to the Secretary of State of 7 December 2009, which includes its advice on the likelihood of its alternative proposal for a unitary Norfolk delivering the outcomes specified by the broad cross section of support criterion, is available in the Library of the House or on the Committee's website at:
	http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/boundary-reviews/all-reviews/eastern/norfolk/norfolk-structural-review

Local Government: Norfolk

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate  (a) he and  (b) the Boundary Committee has made of the level of savings made by (i) district councils and (ii) other local authorities in Norfolk since the financial year 2007-08.

Rosie Winterton: Before taking his statutory decisions on the unitary proposals before him for Norfolk, the assessments which the Secretary of State will make will include an assessment of the likelihood of each proposal, were it to be implemented, delivering the outcomes specified by the affordability criterion. In making this assessment, he will have regard to financial data, including data on savings, provided by the councils concerned to the Boundary Committee and to him, and to any assessment of this data by the Committee's or his independent financial consultants.

Local Government: Norfolk

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment  (a) he and  (b) the Boundary Committee has made of support among residents for a new unitary authority for Norfolk.

Rosie Winterton: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is now carefully considering the Boundary Committee's advice, all the representations he has received, including those of Norfolk residents, and all other relevant information, before taking his statutory decisions about whether to implement any of the unitary proposals before him for Norfolk, with or without modification, or to take no action. In their advice to the Secretary of State of 7 December 2009 the Boundary Committee has noted that in Norfolk there was a strong level of support for retaining the current local government arrangements and where it received support for a county unitary authority this has come from across the county and from a variety of key stakeholders.

Local Government: Norfolk

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department has taken to update the financial information on which the Boundary Committee based its advice for unitary status in Norfolk.

Rosie Winterton: The independent financial consultants whom the Department have appointed have analysed the financial data available on each of the unitary proposals for Norfolk, including comparing data, provided originally by councils and modelled by the Boundary Committee, with 2008-09 accounts and 2009-10 budgets.

Local Government: Reorganisation

Parmjit Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the net effect on public expenditure of introducing unitary local authorities in England.

Rosie Winterton: Our pre-Budget report makes clear that measures to reduce duplication and inefficiency between different tiers of local government will contribute to the £11 billion a year of savings which, as announced in that report, will be delivered by 2012-13. The nine new unitary councils established on 1 April 2009 show the capacity for savings with estimated savings either directly attributable to the transition to unitary local government or facilitated by it totalling some £159 million included in their 2009-10 budgets.
	However, we have no plans for further programmes of invitations under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 to councils in two-tier areas to submit unitary proposals. We recognise that in some specific cases in the future there might be areas where circumstances are such as to warrant a focused and targeted invitation to councils concerned, and the 2007 Act allows for this.

Local Government: Reorganisation

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what formula is applied to determine the number of councillors in a new unitary authority area established to replace a two-tier structure; what the recommended range for the number of electors per councillor in a non-metropolitan unitary authority is; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Electoral arrangements, including the number of councillors in each local authority, are generally matters for the Boundary Committee for England and the Electoral Commission (from 1 April 2010 the Local Government Boundary Commission for England), and there are no recommended ranges for the number of electors per councillor. It is open to the Secretary of State to include in any structural change Order, implementing a unitary proposal, provision for electoral arrangements to apply pending any electoral review by the Boundary Committee. When including such provision the Secretary of State will have regard to the number of electors per councillor in other similar unitary councils and to any representations he receives on the matter.

Local Government: Reorganisation

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with which  (a) elected councillors and  (b) council officials (i) he and (ii) officials of his Department have met since January 2009 to discuss proposals for local government reorganisation in Devon, Norfolk and Suffolk.

Rosie Winterton: Since January 2009, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, my ministerial colleagues and I, and officials in Communities and Local Government, have had a range of meetings with councillors and council officers from Devon, Norfolk and Suffolk as part of our usual business, during which the issue of local government restructuring may have been raised.
	Since 8 December 2009, when the period for representations to be made to the Secretary of State about the Boundary Committee's advice began, meetings with affected local councils have taken place for representations to be made on the unitary proposals or for discussions on possible transitional arrangements.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary, the hon. Member for Stevenage (Barbara Follett) and I met the following councillors and officers during this time:
	 Devon
	Devon County Council:
	Councillor John Clatworthy (Deputy Leader),
	Councillor Brian Greenslade (Shadow Leader of the Council),
	Councillor Andrew Leadbetter, and
	a senior officer of the council
	 East Devon District Council:
	Councillor Ray Franklin
	 Exeter City Council:
	Councillor Peter Edwards,
	Councillor Jeff Coates and
	the chief executive
	 Mid Devon District Council:
	Councillor Peter Hare-Scott (Leader)
	 North Devon District Council:
	Councillor Des Brailey (Leader)
	 South Hams District Council:
	Councillor Michael Hicks
	 Torridge District Council:
	Councillor James Morrish (Leader)
	 West Devon District Council:
	Councillor James McInnes (Leader)
	 Norfolk
	Norwich City Council:
	Councillor Stephen Morphew (Leader),
	the chief executive and
	another senior officer
	Breckland District Council:
	Councillor William Nunn (Leader) and
	the chief executive
	Broadland District Council:
	Councillor Roger Foulger and
	the chief executive
	Great Yarmouth BC:
	Councillor Barry Coleman (Leader),
	the chief executive and
	another senior officer
	King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council:
	Councillor Nick Daubney (Leader) and
	the chief executive
	North Norfolk District Council:
	Councillor Virginia Gay (Leader) and
	the chief executive
	South Norfolk District Council:
	Councillor John Fuller (Leader),
	the chief executive and
	another senior officer
	 Suffolk
	Forest Heath District Council:
	Councillor Geoffrey Jaggard (Leader) and
	the chief executive
	Ipswich Borough Council:
	Councillor Liz Harsant (Leader),
	the chief executive and
	another senior officer
	Mid Suffolk District Council:
	Councillor Tim Passmore (Leader) and
	the chief executive
	St Edmundsbury Borough Council:
	Councillor John Griffiths (Leader) and
	the chief executive
	Suffolk Coastal District Council:
	Councillor Ray Herring (Leader),
	Councillor Andy Smith (Deputy Leader) and
	the chief executive
	Suffolk County Council:
	Councillor Jeremy Pembroke (Leader) and
	the chief executive
	Waveney District Council:
	Councillor Mark Bee (Leader),
	Councillor Colin Law (Deputy Leader),
	the chief executive and
	another senior officer
	Officials also met:
	 Devon
	Devon County Council: the chief executive and senior officers
	Exeter City Council: the chief executive and senior officers
	South Hams District Council: the chief executive
	 Norfolk
	Broadland DC: the chief executive
	Kings Lynn and West Norfolk BC: the chief executive and senior officers
	Norfolk County Council: the chief executive and a senior officer
	Norwich City Council: the chief executive and a senior officer
	South Norfolk DC: Councillor Richard Kemp and a senior officer
	 Suffolk
	Forest Heath District Council: the chief executive and a senior officer
	Ipswich Borough Council: the chief executive and a senior officer
	St Edmundsbury Borough Council: a senior officer
	Suffolk Coastal and Waveney District Councils: the chief executive and senior officers

Local Government: Reorganisation

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will list each for each unitary authority created since 2007 the period of time which elapsed between the decision to implement the Boundary Committee's proposals for unitary status and the election of councillors to a shadow unitary authority.

Rosie Winterton: No unitary authority has been created since 2007 which involved implementing proposals of the Boundary Committee.

Local Government: Reorganisation

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many posts in each of the unitary authorities created since 2007 have been abolished as a result of reorganisation; and how much in total has been paid in redundancy payments.

Rosie Winterton: The establishment of nine new unitary councils on 1 April 2009 has led to a reduction of 330 senior management posts across those authorities, saving £23 million per annum and involving 44 chief executives leaving office through resignation, redundancy or retirement. There are also other staff reductions, on which information is not held centrally, contributing to the efficiency savings being made by the nine new unitary councils which are expected to total over £150 million this year.

Local Government: Reorganisation

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for what reasons his Department's consultation on proposals for unitary local government draft structural change orders is shorter than the 12 weeks recommended in the Code of Practice on Consultation.

Rosie Winterton: We have sought by 3 February 2010 views from the councils potentially affected by any decision to implement unitary local government in Devon, Norfolk and Suffolk on the main possible transitional arrangements, recognising the need to end uncertainty and to move forward as quickly as practicable.

Local Government: Reorganisation

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what consideration he has given to redrawing  (a) ward and  (b) district boundaries in (i) Norfolk, (ii) Suffolk and (iii) Devon consequent on proposals for the reorganisation of local government in each in order to meet requirements for the equal distribution of councillors.

Rosie Winterton: We are considering the Boundary Committee's advice carefully as well as all the representations we have received in relation to the Committee's alternative proposals, all of which for the three county areas would involve changes to district boundaries.
	We have sought, by 3 February 2010, the views of the councils potentially affected by any decision to implement unitary local government in Devon, Norfolk and Suffolk on the main possible transitional arrangements, including electoral arrangements for the first elections to any new unitary authority. We will have regard to these views when preparing any structural change orders.

Local Government: Standards

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will place in the Library the combined Comprehensive Area Assessment and Comprehensive Performance Assessment results for each local authority.

Rosie Winterton: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the Chief Executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member direct.
	 Letter from Steve Bundred, dated 5 February 2010:
	Your Parliamentary Question outlined above has been passed to me to reply.
	The full Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) results dataset for each local authority and local area is held on the Oneplace website:
	http://oneplace.direct.gov.uk/Pages/default.aspx
	A list of the organisational assessment scores published on 9 December 2009 for each local authority (which form one element of the CAA results) is shown on the attached schedule. This can also be found on the Oneplace website:
	http://oneplace.direct.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/oascores/2009_OA_scores_all_organisations.xls
	Archived copies of the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) results from 2002-2008 can be found on the Audit Commission website:
	http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/localgov/audit/cpa/pages/default.aspx
	As the CAA and CPA frameworks measure things differently, the results arising from the different frameworks should not be combined.
	A copy of this letter has been placed in Hansard and the attached schedule has been deposited in the Library of the House.

Local Government: Suffolk

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much expenditure each local authority in Suffolk had incurred in respect of the proposed reorganisation of local government in Suffolk on the latest date for which figures are available.

Rosie Winterton: This information is not held centrally by this Department.

Multiple Occupation: Licensing

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department plans to publish its response to the Building Research Establishment report on licensing of houses in multiple occupation.

Ian Austin: Our response to the Building Research Establishment (BRE) Report on licensing of houses in multiple occupation was published as part of the written ministerial statement of 27 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 54-56WS.

Muslim Council of Britain

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for what reasons he decided to resume contacts with the Muslim Council of Britain; whom he consulted on that decision; and if he will make a statement.

Shahid Malik: The Muslim Council of Britain has made a commitment to Government to examine their internal processes and ensure that the personal actions of all members, including senior leaders, remain true to the organisation's agreed policies.
	The MCB has stated its categorical opposition to attacks on British defence interests and confirmed its unwavering support for British troops across the world. It has also made clear that it stands firmly against anti-Semitism and other forms of racism.
	The significance of these actions on the part of the MCB has led to the Government lifting the suspension of their formal relationship with that organisation.
	We have engaged in a variety of discussions with community stakeholders from a range of faiths on this issue since March and have been able to take the views expressed in those discussions into account in considering our response to the MCB. We also had an ongoing dialogue with other Government Departments on this issue.
	The relevant correspondence is publicly available on the departmental website at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/corporate/pdf/143827311.pdf

Non-Domestic Rates: Empty Property

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 5 January 2010,  Official Report, column 234W, on non-domestic rates: empty property, if he will place in the Library a copy of the representations made by the other groups listed.

Barbara Follett: The representations from the:
	Association of Convenience Stores;
	The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire;
	Weymouth and Portland Chamber of Commerce; and
	The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors,
	have been placed in the Library of the House.
	My answer of 5 January 2010,  Official Report, column 234W incorrectly recorded the Weymouth and Portland Chamber of Commerce representation as being two representations, one from the Weymouth Chamber of Commerce and one from the Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce.
	On further investigation, the letter from the Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation was in fact from an individual member writing in a private capacity and not a representation from the Institute itself. It has, therefore, not been placed in the Library of the House on data protection grounds.
	Our reforms to empty property relief are principled and right for the long-term. They provide a strong incentive on owners to bring empty property back into use, helping to improve access to premises for businesses and so to exert a downward pressure on commercial rents.
	However, we provided owners with real help to manage short-term pressures in a difficult property market by exempting all empty properties with rateable values up to £15,000 from business rates in 2009-10.
	We have listened to the continued concerns of owners and are extending the temporary measure for a further 12 months-to cover the whole of 2010-11-and we are uprating the threshold to £18,000 in line with the general movement of property values at revaluation.

Non-domestic Rates: Garages and Petrol Stations

Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many petrol retail outlets have had a reduction in their rateable value for the purpose of calculating the business rate to come into effect from 1 April 2010;
	(2)  how many petrol retail outlets have been notified that their rateable value  (a) has been reduced,  (b) remains unchanged and  (c) has risen by over (i) 10 per cent., (ii) 50 per cent., (iii) 100 per cent., (iv) 150 per cent., (v) 200 per cent., (vi) 250 per cent., (vii) 300 per cent. and (viii) 350 per cent. for the purpose of calculating the business rate to come into effect on 14 April 2010.

Barbara Follett: All petrol retail outlets have been sent a summary valuation of their property from the Valuation Office Agency which explains and illustrates how their rateable value has been calculated. Ratepayers have been invited to contact their local valuation officer if they think the information in the summary valuation is incorrect.
	The following table is for petrol filling stations with a with a Special Category Valuation Office Agency (VOA SCAT) of 209 in England only. All numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.
	These figures include all property recorded as petrol filling stations using VOA SCAT Code 209. It is not possible to identify and include in the figures hypermarkets and other properties retailing petrol. These are recorded under other SCAT codes.
	
		
			  Percentage change  Number of hereditaments 
			 Decrease 480 
			 No change 0 
			 Equal to or less than 10 per cent. 480 
			 Increases of more than 10 per cent., less than or equal to 50 per cent. 1630 
			 Increases of more than 50 per cent., less than or equal to 100 per cent. 1550 
			 Increases of more than 100 per cent., less than or equal to 150 per cent. 720 
			 Increases of more than 150 per cent., less than or equal to 200 per cent. 320 
			 Increases of more than 200 per cent., less than or equal to 250 per cent. 180 
			 Increases of more than 250 per cent., less than or equal to 300 per cent. 90 
			 Increases of more than 300 per cent., less than or equal to 350 per cent. 70 
			 Increases over 350 per cent. 130 
			  Note: The percentage change in a property's rateable value is not the same as the percentage change in its rates bill. Our £2 billion transitional relief scheme will ensure that in 2010-11 no business property sees its rates bill increase by more than 11 per cent. as a result of the revaluation, with maximum increases capped at just 3.5 per cent. for small properties. 
		
	
	These data are consistent with the statistical release entitled 'Non-domestic rateable values: 2010 Local Rating Lists-England and Wales', published on 18 December 2009. A copy of this statistical release is available at the following link:
	http://www.voa.gov.uk/publications/statistical_releases/VOA_Statistics_Release_Final.pdf
	The data excludes petrol retail outlets in hypermarkets/superstores.
	In the last five years, alongside rising petrol prices and increasing turnover, the rents paid on many petrol filling stations has grown. It is only fair to all ratepayers this is reflected in rate bills.
	The five-yearly business rates revaluations make sure each business pays its fair contribution and no more by ensuring the share of the national rates bill paid by any one business reflects changes over time in the value of their property relative to others. The 2010 revaluation will not raise a single extra penny for Government. Over a million properties will see their business rate liabilities come down as a result of revaluation.
	The percentage increase in rateable value does not necessarily result in a similar increase in rates liability. As the total rateable value for the whole country is increasing by approximately 20 per cent., only businesses with an increase over this figure will see an increase in their bills.
	The Government intend to put in place a £2 billion relief scheme to limit the impact on the minority with bill increases, which in 2010-11 will ensure no business property sees its rates bill increase by more than 11 per cent. as a result of the revaluation, with maximum increases capped at just 3.5 per cent. for small properties. That is on top of the wider support available to help ease business pressures including discounted rate bills for small businesses and deferring tax payments.

Planning Permission: Appeals

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many appeals against planning appeal decisions were upheld in the High Court in each of the last five years; and in respect of which such appeals all legal proceedings have been completed.

Ian Austin: The numbers of High Court challenges to planning appeal decisions over the last five years were as follows:
	2008-09: 97 challenges decided of which 31 were successful;
	2007-08: 64 challenges decided of which 18 were successful;
	2006-07: 69 challenges decided of which 37 were successful;
	2005-06: 60 challenges decided of which 21 were successful; and
	2004-05: 74 challenges decided of which 29 were successful.

Planning Permission: Appeals

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what monitoring his Department undertakes of the decisions taken by inspectors at planning appeals.

Ian Austin: The Department monitors the professional quality standards of the Planning Inspectorate through the Advisory Panel on Standards. The Panel prepares an annual report for the Secretary of State on matters affecting the maintenance of quality within the Inspectorate. In doing so panel members have access to inspectors' reports and decisions and to other relevant material associated with resolved complaints, High Court Challenges or Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman cases.
	The target is that 99 per cent. of the Inspectorate's casework should be free from justified complaint.

Property Development: Floods

Parmjit Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what changes have been made to planning guidance as a result of the 2007 floods.

Ian Austin: Sir Michael Pitt's review of the summer 2007 floods found that the policy approach in Planning Policy Statement 25 (PPS25), Development and Flood Risk, is sound and should be rigorously applied. In June 2008, Communities and Local Government published a Practice Guide to PPS25 which reflected the more detailed findings of Sir Michael Pitt's review and took account of responses to the earlier 'living draft' version of the guide, including responses made in the light of the 2007 floods. A further updated version of the guide was published on 7 December 2009.
	In 2009 we carried out an initial review of the implementation of PPS25. This found that good progress was being made and the policy was working in helping to deliver sustainable development that is safe from flood risk. This view is supported by the Environment Agency. In August 2009 Communities and Local Government published consultation proposals to amend and clarify some limited aspects of PPS25. We will publish a revised version of PPS25 soon with refinements to further improve the policy's implementation and effectiveness.

Regeneration and Housing: South East

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding his Department has provided for  (a) regeneration and  (b) housing projects in each local authority area in South East England in each year since 1997; and how much such funding his Department plans to provide in 2010-11.

Ian Austin: The data requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Regional Government

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will list the addresses of each overseas office of each  (a) regional assembly and  (b) regional leaders' board; how many staff are employed in each such office; and what the cost to the public purse was of each in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Rosie Winterton: No regional assembly or regional leaders' board has a sole office overseas. However there are offices for each region in Brussels which are funded by a wide range of partners. The East of England and North West offices are managed by the respective assembly and leaders' board on behalf of a group of regional partners.
	The costs of running these offices are drawn from a wide range of bodies. Records on these costs are not centrally held.

Regional Planning and Development: South West

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent progress has been made on the Regional Spatial Strategy for the South West.

Ian Austin: Following the judgment on the East of England Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS), my Noble Friend Lord McKenzie announced in November that he had agreed that additional sustainability appraisal work should be carried out for the SW RSS. This is currently being undertaken and should be complete in the Spring. Ministers will then consider how to take forward the SW RSS.

Tenancy Deposit Schemes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate has been made of the number of tenancy agreements covered by each tenancy deposit scheme licensed by his Department; and what the monetary value of deposits held in each scheme was at the latest date for which figures are available.

Ian Austin: At the end of September 2009, the latest date for which figures are available, a total of 1,690,000 deposits were protected by the three Government approved tenancy deposit protection schemes. The total value of the deposits protected was £1.6 billion. I am unable to provide a breakdown for the individual schemes for reasons of commercial confidentiality.

Tenants Service Authority

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's  (a) management statement and  (b) financial memorandum in respect of the (i) Tenants Service Authority and (ii) Homes and Communities Agency.

John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 19 October 2009,  Official Report, column 1305W.